When Sparks Fly In The Penguin HQ
by Slinkgirl95
Summary: Sparks fly in the penguin HQ when a new female penguin moves to the zoo and falls for one of the penguins. A story of love and passion. Special thanks to the sudoku kid. Please R&R! Chapter 18 Up!
1. Kowalski's Announcement

_A/N: Slinkgirl95 and the sudoku kid are proud to present our fanfic titled, "When Sparks Fly In The Penguin HQ". It's about a new female penguin moving to Central Park Zoo. A fanfic based on my big Kowalski obsession. Enjoy!_

**DISCLAIMER: THE PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON.**

When Sparks Fly in the Penguin HQ

Chapter One: Kowalski's Announcement

It was just another typical day at our favourite zoo; Central Park Zoo. The weather was unfortunately cloudy and it seemed as if it was going to rain pretty soon as the clouds grew darker. It was absolutely no weather to train in so the penguins called their regular training session off for the day and decided to just sit back and relax.

Skipper sat across Private at the table in the penguin HQ, each with a set of cards in their flippers, having a nice steady game of Go Fish. In a corner in the room, Rico was sharpening a sharp knife with a hungry look on his face. Pretty sure the knife was sharp enough!

"Got any nines?" Skipper asked Private with a cool and confident smile.

Private looked down at the cards in his flippers. In his flippers, there was a king, a queen, a one with a spade and a six with a clover. Nope, no nines.

"Go Fish!" piped Private.

So then Skipper drew a card from the almost empty deck and placed it in his set of cards. The card was a two with a red heart.

"Got any jacks?" asked Private.

Skipper looked down at his cards to see he had a four with a diamond, the two with a red heart he had pulled out, a king and an ace. Wait; there was a jack! Dang it! He pulled it out and handed it to Private who placed it down on a pile of cards sitting beside him. Skipper kept his confident smile.

Back over in the corner, Rico placed his now fully sharpened knife down and then spat out a black cartoon-looking bomb and began polishing it with a cloth, humming a tune to himself happily.

"Alright, got any queens?" asked Private.

Skipper looked down at his cards before looking up and shaking his head.

"Go Fish," he said.

So then Private pulled the last card out of the deck and placed it in his flippers. Now he had two sixes. He pulled out the two sixes and placed them down on his set of cards.

"Well, that's game," said Skipper, placing his cards down. "Let's count up our pairs."

So then they began counting up their pairs. After counting up, Skipper had a total of ten pairs while Private had a pair of eighteen. He had defeated his master against a game of Go Fish!

"I won!" Private exclaimed happily.

"Bravo, young soldier," Skipper said, clapping his flippers.

Private just giggled. "It was nothing."

After polishing his bomb clean, Rico placed it down and then heard a noise come from the entrance. And then next moment, the fish bowl above the ladder moved across and then something shot down. It was Kowalski with a rolled up sheet under his flipper.

"Where have you been all day, soldier?" asked Skipper as he shuffled the cards.

"I'm glad you asked," replied Kowalski with a smile before waddling up to the table. "I was looking around in the zoo office when I came across this."

And then he pulled out the sheet from under his flipper and rolled it onto the table. Rico got up and waddled over to the table to see what it was. Words and numbers were scribbled all over the sheet, filled with places and dates and times.

"What is it?" asked Private in concern.

Rico looked at the sheet in confusion and let out a "Wha-?"

"It's a transfer sheet," replied Kowalski. "A new penguin is being transferred from a zoo in California to our zoo. She'll be arriving in three days."

"A penguin is-" Skipper said before he suddenly paused. "Wait; it's a girl?"

"Yes. Apparently it's a female penguin," replied Kowalski.

"A female penguin?" asked Private. Kowalski nodded.

"A female, huh?" started Skipper with his flippers on his hips, cocking an eyebrow.

"She could be friendly," thought Private.

"She could be intelligent," thought Kowalski.

Rico let out a series of grunts as he spun his flippers around, possibly thinking she could be into danger and explosions.

"But how do we know this new penguin isn't some sort of spy?" said Skipper with his flippers still on his hips.

The penguins turned to their leader once they heard him say that, paranoia slowly appearing in his sapphire-blue eyes. However, it wasn't the first time they had heard him say that.

"A spy? Really?" piped Private.

"Yes. Dr. Blowhole must be planning on sending a female to spy on us," Skipper said in his paranoid tone.

"Sir, I do believe that this female penguin is not a spy," replied Kowalski. "She may just be a regular penguin. And I believe that if she was a spy, she would have been sent here as soon as possible."

Skipper thought it over. "Maybe he's trying a new method." He said.

"C'mon, Skipper, it can't possibly be a spy," said Private.

"Oh, yeah. And how do you know that?" asked Skipper with his flippers on his hips.

"I mean, not every animal that has been transferred here was a spy," answered Private.

"Like who?" asked Skipper.

"Like the chameleons," answered Private.

Yes, the chameleons were not spies. However, when they were transferred to the zoo, they "kidnapped" some of the animals but really they were just gathering them together for a party.

"But what about that filthy walrus that Marlene didn't like, huh?" asked Skipper.

There was once a walrus named Rhonda who was transferred to the zoo and boy was she disgusting! She took over Marlene's home and ended up being transferred to another zoo because of how she was treating Marlene. It became clear that she was a spy after Kowalski's new invention had been stolen, obviously by her.

"Well, maybe she was a spy but maybe this penguin isn't," said Private.

"I do believe that is true," said Kowalski.

The two looked at Rico, waiting for his answer. He just shrugged his shoulders.

Skipper sighed in annoyance. What was he supposed to do? Listen to his team mates or listen to his own paranoid-filled mind.

"Alright, let's give this new penguin a chance," he finally said. "But if I see her up to any funny business, she's outta here!"

And with that, the penguins exchanged pleasing looks and smiled at their leader.

"Alright, if a new penguin is moving to our zoo then we'll have to prepare for our guest,"

Moments later, the penguins were standing in a line, facing their leader who was pacing the floor with his flippers behind his back.

"Alright, Rico, you'll be in charge of making a bunk for our guest," Skipper said, pointing a flipper to Rico before turning to both Kowalski and Private. "Kowalski and Private, keep an eye on our guest… and make her feel welcome."

So for the next three days, Rico spent his time working on a new bunk while Kowalski and Private both thought about what the new penguin would be like. Was she a happy penguin who loved rainbows and unicorns? Was she an intelligent penguin who'd study science if it was the last thing on earth? Meanwhile, Skipper was still paranoid about this new penguin, still convinced that it might be a spy. Could it be?

_A/N: So what did you think of the first chapter? I know this chapter is kinda short but it's the first chapter so they're pretty short. Anyways, who could this new penguin be? Until then, please review!_


	2. Five Penguins And A Crush

_A/N: Next chappie up! Last time in our fanfic, Kowalski got information about a new female penguin moving to the zoo. Who could this new penguin be? Read to find out!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

Chapter Two: Five Penguins and a Crush

The next three days flowed by quickly like in the blink of an eye. It only seemed as if it was yesterday Kowalski had told the penguins about the transfer of the new female penguin.

Somewhere in the zoo, there was a small dark blue truck with the words _CENTRAL PARK ZOO_ written in red on the side. At the back of the truck, Alice the zookeeper was talking to a man wearing a trucker hat and a blue uniform with a medium-sized crate in his arms.

"So you need any help carrying this crate?" asked the man in a Californian accent.

"No, no. I'm fine," replied Alice.

"Alright," replied the man before handing the crate to her. Once it was in her arms, it heaved her down to the ground like as if she had just been handed an anvil. But she managed to seize it back up.

"Alright, so you're all good?" the man asked.

"Yep," replied Alice.

"Alright. Well, I gotta get going now." The man said before he walked over to the front of the truck, got in, started up the engine and soon drove out of the zoo and into the city.

The zookeeper turned around and began making her way towards the penguin habitat, her arms slowly growing tired from the weight of the crate. Once she arrived at the penguin habitat, she placed the crate down and pulled the long wooden plank from underneath her arm and placed it in the habitat so it made a bridge over the water below. She lifted up the heavy crate and walked in and placed the crate down.

"There you go, little fellow," said Alice. "Now I'll just go get a hammer so-"

But then something didn't seem right to her. There was something not right here. She looked around suspiciously around the penguin habitat to see there were no cute and cuddly penguins around.

"Hey, where are those-" she said before she sighed and rolled her eyes. She couldn't be bothered dealing with those penguins at the moment. She then exited the habitat and walked off with the plank under her arm to go get a hammer.

After she was gone, the fish bowl slid aside and the penguins flew out of the hole and landed on the platform in karate stances. The first thing their eyes met was the crate.

"Kowalski; analysis," ordered Skipper.

And with that, Kowalski stepped up to the crate and waddled around it, examining every look and perspective. It was wooden of course and was about their height. His eyes then met a penguin silhouette on the side with a sticker beside it, jumbled with words and numbers like a coded message. He then turned back to Skipper and smiled.

"Sir, I believe this crate contains the penguin we've been waiting for," he said.

"Well, let's open it up then, shall we?" said Skipper. "Rico; crowbar!"

And with that, Rico coughed up a crowbar. Skipper grabbed it and then yanked it into the crate and pulled it down. Immediately, they saw something black and white curled up in the corner. Already, they knew it must be the new female penguin.

"Hey, what's all that noise?" the female penguin said inside.

"Come on out and there'll be no trouble," said Skipper, flippers on his hips.

And so the female penguin stood up and waddled out of the dark crate and stepped into the daylight. She was a small penguin, about the same height as Skipper. However, she wasn't as fat as they were but had slightly curvy hips. She didn't have blue eyes like them but had hazel-brown eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light. Her eyelids were violet instead of baby blue and she had small eyelashes.

"Welcome to our zoo, Miss…?" greeted Skipper.

"Amber," replied the female penguin shyly.

"Miss Amber," corrected Skipper. "Welcome to Central Park Zoo."

Amber nodded shyly. "So… who are you?"

"Well, I'm the Skipper, leader of this team," answered Skipper proudly.

"A leader, huh?" replied Amber.

"Yes, we are an elite force and it's our job to protect this zoo at all costs," said Skipper proudly.

"Uh-huh," replied Amber. "So who are your friends?"

Skipper chuckled slightly before gesturing a flipper to Private. "This is our Private. Just call him Private.

Private smiled at her and gave a small wave. Amber waved back. _He seems nice,_ Amber thought to herself.

"This is Rico, our weapons specialist," Skipper said, gesturing to Rico.

Rico spat out a black cartoon-looking bomb and threw it into the air and it exploded with a _BOOM! _ashe clapped crazily with a destructive-hungry look on her face. Amber looked at the sight and thought, _Ew._

"And this is Kowalski, the options guy and braniac on the team," Skipper said, gesturing to Kowalski.

Amber turned to him slowly to see the smart look in his eyes. Her hazel-brown eyes were now fixed on his blue eyes and she felt a new feeling crawl through her body. _Kowalski…_ she thought dreamily.

"Uh… h-h-hi," she muttered nervously.

"Hello," said Kowalski. "Wait; did you say your name was Amber? Amber as in the reddish-orange colour often used in pendants?"

Amber blushed. "Um… y-yes."

"Well Miss Amber," started Skipper. "Just to make sure you're the right penguin; Kowalski?"

Kowalski then stepped up beside his leader and pulled out his notepad and pencil, ready to write down anything.

"Alright, you said your name was Amber, like after the jewellery colour, right?" asked Kowalski.

Amber blushed. "Y-yes."

Kowalski wrote down what she had said before asking, "Alright. Background history?"

Amber blushed again. "Well um… I c-came from a zoo in C-California. The staff thought I'd be best moving to another zoo as the other penguins at my z-zoo treated me badly."

Kowalski wrote down everything she just said at the speed of light. After writing down all the information onto his notepad, he turned to Skipper, who was waiting for an answer. He smiled.

"Yes, she is in fact the female penguin we were expecting," started Kowalski.

"Alright," replied Skipper.

"Wait; you knew I was coming?" asked Amber curiously.

"Yes," answered Kowalski. "I was looking around in the zoo office and I stumbled across your transfer sheet."

Amber blushed deeply and her heart fluttered. She couldn't believe it. She had only arrived at the zoo and hadn't been there for at least ten minutes and yet she was finding herself love-struck by Kowalski.

"Alright, we've prepared everything for your arrival," Skipper said to Amber with his flippers behind his back. "Rico here has prepared a bunk for you."

Amber looked around the place, not seeing a bunk, just the water, the platform and the fish bowl. No bunks.

"Um… bunk?" she asked confused.

"He means down below us," said Private. "We have a base underground."

"Oh, okay." Replied Amber, beginning to blush again, feeling somewhat embarrassed.

"Well now, care to see our underground base?" asked Skipper.

Amber thought it over, not sure whether to nod or shake her head. She took a quick look at Kowalski and blushed deeply. She nodded her head.

"Alright, this way then," said Skipper.

So for the rest of the morning, the team showed Amber around the base, showing her what to touch and what not to touch. She was allowed to touch the TV and the table and her bunk but wasn't able to gain full access to the fridge or wasn't allowed to enter Kowalski's lab.

About Kowalski, she couldn't help but feel herself falling in love with him. First, she found him smart. And then she found him smart and nice. And then she found him smart, nice and… handsome. She had never felt this way before. She was… in love.

_I think I'm going to love this place,_ Amber thought to herself.

_A/N: That's the end of this chapter. Sorry if this chapter kinda sucked with lack of detail but I was having trouble with this chapter. Anyways, Amber has fallen in love with Kowalski. I promise the next chapter will sound better. Until then, please review!_


	3. Dreams, Skills And Tours

_A/N: It has been way too long since I last updated. Anyways, in the last chapter of our exciting fanfic, the new female penguin named Amber arrived at the zoo and developed a crush on Kowalski. I promise this chapter will be a lot better than the last two. Enjoy!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

Chapter Three: Dreams, Skills and Tours

Night time had fallen at the zoo as the penguins were snoozing away in their bunks. However, Amber remained awake, not a look of tiredness was in her eyes. She seemed to be dazed as thoughts flowed through her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about that one penguin she had just met; Kowalski. She felt like she had a crush on him. It felt like she really did have a crush on him. But what was it that she found so interesting about him? Was it his deep blue ocean eyes? Was it his deep voice that sounded like music to her ears? Was it his intelligence? She had only met him a few hours ago and already she felt like she had developed a crush on him.

She had to write something down about all of this as she reached behind her back and pulled out a small purple book and a pencil. She opened the book up and began writing down in it. She wrote;

_Dear Diary. I moved to Central Park Zoo today and met my new penguin neighbours. Skipper the leader seems paranoid about everything, Private seems like a nice guy, that Rico guy seems kind of gross but the tall one… the smart one… Kowalski… he's so smart and nice. His blue eyes are so attractive and his voice is so deep and hypnotic. If I didn't know any better, I think I'm in love with him._

She then closed the book and placed it under her pillow, along with her pencil. Before she tried to get some sleep, she could hear the other penguins snoring above. She knew she could hear the sound of Kowalski's snoring. It sounded… attractive.

"The fifth element on the periodic table is boron," Kowalski mumbled in his sleep. "CO2 is the scientific name for carbon dioxide." he mumbled again before he began snoring again.

Was Amber able to sleep with his snoring going off like he was some broken record? Or mumbling random facts about science? No, it sounded like a smoothing lullaby she could sleep to so she placed her head against the pillow and closed her eyes and soon she dozed off into a deep sleep.

_A dream slowly appeared before her like a flash of light. In the dream, there was a beautiful blue ocean with the sun setting in the distance, creating shiny sparkles across the water. Next, there was a nice white sandy beach that stretched out with a tropical green jungle behind it as the trees waved mystically. It seemed pretty much like a beach on Madagascar. Out on the beach were two figures. There was a tall one and a shorter one, just up to his chest. The sunlight slowly revealed the figures to be Kowalski and Amber. Kowalski had Amber in his flippers romantically as he dipped her down so that her head was almost touching the sand. He looked deeply into her hazel-brown eyes as Amber stared into his blue eyes deeply._

"_I love you," Amber whispered._

"_I love you too," Kowalski whispered back._

_He then leaned in as his eyes drooped and his beak turned into a smile. He breathed against Amber's chest, letting out the nice smell of fish, making her lightly moan from the feeling. Kowalski then closed his eyes and leaned his face in closer until his beak met hers, forming a kiss that seemed to go on forever. Amber's eyes shut as she sapped in the taste of the kiss. The sun in the background seemed to have gotten brighter as it shined right over them and the ocean sparkled brighter._

Back in the real world, Amber was back in her bunk, sitting up with her eyes shut tight and her beak was puckered as she was practically kissing the air! It was such a pathetic and ridiculous sight to look at.

_Back in her dream, Kowalski pulled his beak away from Amber's beak and smiled lightly, his blue eyes shining with the ocean. She opened her eyes sighed dreamily as she looked into the eyes of her knight in shining armour._

"_I love you," she muttered._

_Kowalski nodded before he muttered, "Amber."_

"_Yes?" Amber replied back, beginning to smile._

"_Wake up," Kowalski suddenly said._

"_What?" asked Amber, cocking an eyebrow._

"_Wake up," repeated Kowalski. This time, it sounded like an echo._

Suddenly, Amber's eyes popped opened before she fell out of her bunk and crashed onto the floor with a _CRASH!_ and an "OUCH!" She rubbed her head before she realized she was no longer on the beach and was no longer in Kowalski's flippers. Once she looked up, her eyes widened and her face turned bright red. Standing there in front of her was Kowalski, looking down at her with a weird expression. Her heart raced.

"Oh! M-Morning!" she said, trying to hide her embarrassment as she rubbed the back of her head and chuckled crazily.

Kowalski eyed her strangely, cocking an eyebrow at the ridiculous look on Amber's face.

"Um… w-where you w-watching me?" she asked, now showing her embarrassment.

"Er… kind of, yes," replied Kowalski.

Amber's cheeks lit up. "Uh… I c-can explain…"

"No need to," replied Kowalski.

"Huh?" she asked.

"Skipper and I would like to see you about something," answered Kowalski.

"Oh, alright," replied Amber. However, Kowalski must have thought she was pretty dumb, what with seeing her kissing the air and falling out of her bunk and crashing onto the floor.

_I bet he thinks I'm stupid,_ Amber thought to herself. _Way to go, dumbbell._

* * *

Later on, Amber was sitting at the table with Skipper and Kowalski across her. Skipper had his regular morning cup of coffee with a fish sticking out sitting by his side as the steam danced above it while Kowalski had his clipboard and pencil out in front of him.

"Alright, I guess you know why Kowalski woke you up from such a nice dream," started Skipper before taking a sip from his coffee.

"Um… no," replied Amber. Now that he had said "nice dream", she felt slightly embarrassed, what from dreaming about Kowalski being romantic and the two on a nice warm beach and all.

"Alright, Kowalski and I wanted to know if you have any… skills," said Skipper.

"Um… what do you mean by that?" asked Amber.

"Well, do you have any talents? You know, like skydiving or cooking?" answered Kowalski.

Amber thought it over. "Um… I g-guess I have a few," she said.

Kowalski's pencil immediately touched the clipboard once he heard her. "Care to share them?" he asked eagerly.

Amber looked at him and blushed, noticing his pencil literally touching the clipboard like it was his last time he would ever write. "Uh… I c-can draw pretty well," she said. Kowalski immediately scribbled that bit of information down. "I know some… karate."

"Karate? Really?" asked Skipper, cocking an eyebrow.

"Well… I'm not that good with it," replied Amber. "I only know a few moves."

"Only knows a few moves," Kowalski said as he wrote that down.

"What kind of moves do you know?" asked Skipper.

"The roundhouse, a few flips and basically karate chops," answered Amber.

"Roundhouse, a few flips and karate chops," Kowalski muttered as he wrote that all down onto his clipboard.

Skipper drank more of his coffee before saying, "Any other skills?"

"Um… I don't think so," replied Amber.

"Would you care to demonstrate your drawing abilities?" asked Kowalski.

Amber blushed. "Um… okay."

And with that, Kowalski handed her a piece of paper and a pencil. Amber thought hard of what to possibly draw or sketch. Sketching would probably take longer. Drawing would be quicker and easier. Slowly, an image came to her mind. And with that, she picked up the pencil and began scribbling something down. It took a while before she placed the now blunted pencil down and showed her drawing. She had drawn a picture of a giant atomic explosion, setting off in an ocean.

"You've got talent for drawing radioactive explosions," said Kowalski, impressed by the structure of the drawing.

"Yes, I bet Rico would love to see this," said Skipper, staring at the explosion.

Amber blushed at what Kowalski said. "Y-You r-really think s-so?"

Kowalski nodded. "I've been dying to study the works of radioactivity."

Amber blushed more. She was slightly happy that he was impressed by her drawing.

"Now could you draw a giant missile?" asked Skipper.

Amber looked at him and nodded. "Yeah, sure."

* * *

Later on that day, Amber wandered off to explore her brand new zoo. She had only seen the penguin habitat and wanted to see the others. She was waddling past the otter habitat before the corner of her eye spotted Marlene walking out of her cave home. Amber climbed up onto the fence to see Marlene stretching her arms out wide before she leapt up into the air and dove into the water below. She swam around as bubbles followed her magically as she performed a few spins and such. Amber felt impressed by her swimming skills as she slightly smiled.

_I didn't know this zoo had otters_, Amber thought to herself, continuing to watch Marlene swim around.

Suddenly, Marlene leapt up out of the water and landed on the grass in her habitat. She shook herself dry before the corner of her eye caught something. She turned around to see Amber peeking over the fence into her habitat. Amber's eyes widened before she lost her grip on the fence as she fell forward and fell right into the habitat, crashing onto the grass with a _CRASH!_

"Not again!" she exclaimed.

Marlene rushed up to the penguin to see her rubbing her head in pain.

"You okay there?" she asked.

Amber continued rubbing her head before she looked up and noticed Marlene kneeling down in front of her.

"Uh… yeah, I'm fine," she said.

"Need any help?" asked Marlene.

"No, I'm okay," replied Amber before she got up and brushed herself off.

Marlene just nodded and put on a slight smile. Suddenly, something hit her that she had never seen this penguin in her life before. She had never seen a female penguin in her life before either. She had never seen a penguin with hazel-brown eyes before or slim-looking hips. It suddenly hit her that this female penguin must be a new penguin to the zoo!

"Wait; are you new here?" she asked.

"As a matter of fact, I am," answered Amber. "I'm Amber. I was transferred from a zoo in California as the penguins back at my old zoo treated me badly."

"Oh, that must've been horrible," replied Marlene. "I'm Marlene by the way. I'm pretty close friends with the penguins so you may expect me to come see them anytime."

"Okay," replied Amber.

"So what are you doing out here by yourself anyway?" asked Marlene. "Has Skipper already gotten paranoid about you and kicked you out?"

"Um… no. But he does seem slightly paranoid," replied Amber. "But he let me go wander off around the zoo anyway. However, I'm lost."

Marlene thought it over. "Well, maybe I could show you around?" she asked.

Amber's eyes lit up in delight. "Sure! I'd love to!"

And so the two walked off and began wandering around the zoo for nearly the whole morning. Marlene pointed to objects and habitats as they walked by. Amber took her time to observe all the habitats and animals surround her. They pretty much went anywhere and visited the zoo inhabitants. The chimpanzees seemed like nice mammals as they shared past stories with Phil speaking his usual sign language. Joey was of course in no mood to meet new animals so they never went to his habitat. They visited the reptile house where the chameleons were happy to meet a new animal. She couldn't quite stand the fact that Burt was completely obsessed with eating peanuts. Doris the Dolphin was glad enough to perform a few tricks in her aquarium as she did spins and dives.

"So what do you think of the zoo?" asked Marlene sometime later.

"It's great!" answered Amber with a smile. "Everyone here seems so friendly, especially the chimpanzees and Doris. But not Joey; he's a jerk."

Marlene nodded and chuckled before the two heard something not too far. They looked across to see the lemurs in their habitat. Mort like always was hugging King Julien's royal feet, a mad look spread across his royal face.

"Mort, how many times am I telling you not to touch the royal feet?" asked King Julien madly as Mort continued to hug his feet.

"Um, who's that?" asked Amber, watching the pathetic sight.

"Oh, that's Julien," answered Marlene, also watching the scene. "He calls himself the self-proclaimed king of the zoo."

"And who's the small cute-looking one?"

"That's Mort. He loves hugging Julien's feet."

"And who's this one?" asked Amber, pointing to Maurice as he walked up to King Julien with a smoothie in his hands.

"Here's your smoothie, your majesty," he said.

The ring-tailed lemur snatched the smoothie away from his right hand man and took his first sip out of it. Immediately, his eyes lit up and he moaned in delight before he said, "Now this is a smoothie I can call groovy!"

"That's Maurice, answered Marlene. "Julien's right hand man."

King Julien continued drinking his smoothie as he managed to kick Mort off his royal feet, sending him flying across the habitat like a flying rugby ball.

"I like flying!" he exclaimed before he hit his head against the ground.

Amber stared at the sight of what just happened. However, she slightly smiled before she waved her flipper and exclaimed, "Hello!" but then Marlene covered her beak and pulled her away.

King Julien looked up and scanned the area, trying to figure out where the sound came from. "Maurice, did you hear that?" he asked his royal right-hand man.

Maurice looked around and shrugged his shoulders.

King Julien thought it over before one possible reason came to mind. "Maybe it was the sky spirits. Peace, sky spirits!" he shouted up to the sky.

Marlene and Amber were walking towards the otter habitat. Amber felt pretty bad for what she did. She felt slightly… guilty.

"I'm sorry for what I did before," she said sadly.

Marlene looked back at her and smiled. "It's okay. Just, you don't want to bother them. They'll annoy you for the rest of your life."

"Really?" asked Amber.

"Well, they know the penguins very well and they get bothered a lot by them, especially when they have to go on missions." Explained Marlene.

"Missions?"

"Yeah, they're an elite force."

"Oh, yeah, right."

The two stopped before the otter habitat, just across the penguin habitat. Marlene turned back to Amber and smiled.

"So, would you have any time to come over to my place and check it out?" she asked nicely.

Amber looked back at the penguin habitat. She could see the penguins training as Skipper gave the orders as the penguins tried their hardest not to fail their leader. She could see how hard Kowalski was training as her eyes slightly drooped at the sight.

"Well?" asked Marlene.

Amber's eyes widened before she turned back to Marlene and nodded her head. "S-Sure," she said.

And so the two walked off towards the otter habitat and walked on inside the cave home. Amber's eyes scanned the area as she saw how nicely everything was set up. She smiled at the sight before her eyes suddenly landed on the paintings on the wall as she moved closer to it, studying the look and structure.

"So, what do you think?" asked Marlene.

"It's okay I guess," answered Amber. "I really love your artwork."

"Uh… thanks," replied Marlene. "Do you paint?"

Amber turned to her and replied with, "Well, I'm more of a sketcher than a painter."

Marlene chuckled as Amber continued to study the paintings on her wall. After looking at the paintings and the other stuff decorated in the room, she turned to Marlene and asked, "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Uh… sure, what?" replied Marlene.

"Um… have you ever been in love before? Or dated someone?" asked Amber.

Marlene's cheeks immediately turned red. "Um… kind of," she started. "I dated a squirrel once named Fred but it didn't work out. I heard no Spanish guitar."

Of course Marlene had once dated a dumb squirrel named Fred and boy was he dumb! He was as dumb as a sack of hammers! They went out for only a while until Marlene dumped him because she heard no Spanish guitar.

"How did you two meet?" asked Amber.

"Well, Kowalski invented a machine called the Luv-U-Lator and used me as a guinea pig," started Marlene. "Fred turned out to be my perfect match so we went out of a while until I found out how dumb he was so I dumped him."

"Well that's some- wait; did you say K-K-Kowalski?" blurted Amber.

"Uh... yeah," answered Marlene. "Why?"

"Um… I kind of wanted to talk about him," Amber stammered, beginning to turn red.

Marlene noticed the red growing in her cheeks and her eyes lit up. She had figured it out. She knew what Amber possibly had. She slightly chuckled.

"Let me guess; you have a crush on him?" she asked.

Amber's heart fluttered and her face went redder. She looked up and nodded.

"Well, want to talk about it?" asked Marlene, sitting down.

"Uh… sure," replied Amber, sitting down too. "I don't know how I got a crush on him. I just met him yesterday and felt so mushy on the inside."

"Well, what do you think it is?"

"Well, h-he does have s-some attractive-looking eyes and his v-voice is s-so d-deep."

"Well… do you have anything in common with him?"

"Not that I'm sure of. He does like science and… I am kind of into it."

"Well, maybe you should talk to him about science and stuff and then he'll probably like you."

Amber's cheeks went red and her heart fluttered. "R-Really? You think that'll work?"

Marlene nodded her head. Suddenly, she looked down as blush slightly began to spread across her face. 'You know, talking about the penguins, I… I kind of…"

"You kind of what?" asked Amber.

"I… I kind of…" Marlene stammered before she gulped. "I kind of… l-like Skipper."

Amber's eyes widened and her expression changed. Really? Did Marlene really like Skipper? She chuckled slightly.

"You like him?" she asked, trying not to laugh pretty hard.

"What about Kowalski, huh?" asked Marlene.

Amber's face went red. So did Marlene's. The two looked at each other and just laughed, completely embarrassed from what they had just shared. Already, the two had become great friends and already had something in common. They both liked a certain penguin.

For the rest of the afternoon, the two chatted and laughed until the sun began to set behind the city buildings in the distance. Not wanting to disappoint or make the penguins worry, Amber said good-bye to Marlene and left the otter habitat and began making her way back to the penguin habitat. She had a new journey awaiting her. She had to please the guy of her dreams. She had to converse with the guy of her dreams. She had to complete this goal.

_A/N: So what did you think of the long chapter? Pretty sweet ae? I know the ending kind of sucks but that's all I had. Anyways, will Amber have the guts to talk to Kowalski? Find out next time! Til then, please review!_


	4. Science, Art And Embarrassment

_A/N: Wow, haven't updated for a while! Last time, Amber… blah blah blah, we already know. What will happen today? Find out by reading!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

Chapter Four: Science, Art and Embarrassment

"Rico, hurry up, soldier," said Skipper that night in the penguin HQ. "We've got aerial duty tonight and you know how I feel about being early."

Rico moaned in annoyance before getting out of his bunk. He placed his doll girlfriend down in the bunk in a lying position and gently kissed her forehead and then waddled up to his leader. He really wasn't in the mood for aerial duty tonight; he was more interested in spending time with his doll girlfriend. However, duty awaited him.

"Private, come on," said Skipper, turning to Private.

"Can I bring snacks?" asked Private.

Skipper turned to Rico, waiting for his answer. Rico grunted and nodded his head in agreement. Skipper turned back to Private, eagerly waiting for an answer.

"Alright, but don't eat too much," he said.

Private put on a smile and then waddled over to the first prize fish on the wall and swung it open to reveal a secret hole, containing a box of peanut butter winkies sitting there, his favourite snack. However, he remembered what happened last time with the peanut butter winkies; he went to perform aerial duty by himself and brought along his peanut butter winkies but ate too much and went sugar high. Soon, he began blabbering about an orca in the sky or as everyone called it; the skorca. But due to him being so hyper, no one believed him… until they saw it.

"Alright, let's get going, men," said Skipper.

"Wait; you're all going?" asked Kowalski, standing at the table with his chemistry set laid out, his trusty abacus sitting beside him.

"Well, we can never trust Private to go alone after the incident with the skorca," answered Skipper. "Rico I can't quite trust either."

Rico, who was randomly cleaning a black cartoon-looking bomb, turned to his leader and grunted a "Wha?"

"Well that does make sense," said Kowalski before tinkering with his abacus.

"Anyways, let's go before the sun rises, shall we?" said Skipper.

Private and Rico nodded before they began climbing up the ladder and made their way out through the hatch above. Before Skipper made his way out, he noticed Amber sitting in a corner, doodling in a sketch pad. Paranoia immediately lit his mind as he waddled up to her to see her sketching the inside of the HQ.

"Can I ask why you're sketching our home?" he asked, paranoia filling his voice.

Amber stopped as she placed her pencil down and turned around to see Skipper standing there with his flippers on his hips, cocking an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Well, I like to improve my drawing skills and well I got bored," replied Amber.

Skipper didn't quite buy it. He wasn't sure if she really wanted to improve her drawing skills or was sketching the base to show to her possible bosses… if she had any. Boy, Skipper's paranoia sure was high. He then waddled up to Kowalski, eyeing Amber from behind suspiciously, giving her a slight glare.

_Gee, what's his problem?_ Amber thought to herself before going back to sketching.

"Keep an eye on our guest," Skipper whispered to Kowalski. "Make sure she isn't up to any funny business. I already saw what she was sketching. I'm not too sure what she could be up to."

"Skipper, you've really gotta ease down on your paranoia," Kowalski slightly chuckled.

Skipper sighed before whispering back, "Just keep an eye on her."

Kowalski nodded and then with that, Skipper waddled towards the ladder and made his way out through the hatch. Now it was just Amber and Kowalski in the HQ. Amber stopped with her sketching as she closed the book and placed it down beside her. She looked up to see Kowalski at the table, experimenting with chemicals. She looked around nervously to see the others had left; they had all gone to do aerial duty. Kowalski was the only remaining one there… same with her. She was now all alone with Kowalski. No one else.

_I'm all alone with Kowalski now,_ she thought to herself. _Oh, no. I'm nervous. I'm so nervous. I don't even know if I can talk to him._

This was the time for her to put her nervous side away and act as a woman. She stood up and took a deep breath in and slowly waddled up to Kowalski. Her nervousness was beginning to get the best of her as she slightly shook in her tracks.

"H-Hello, K-K-Kowalski," she stammered nervously.

Kowalski stopped what he was doing once he heard her. He placed down the beaker he was holding and turned to Amber to see a fogged up look before removing his goggles to see her nervous look on her face.

"Why, hello there, Amber." He replied back with a smile.

"I see y-you're experimenting with c-chemistry," said Amber, trying not to act so nervous around him.

"Why yes, yes I am," replied Kowalski rather happily. "It's my life-long passion."

"I s-see," replied Amber.

But then Kowalski sighed sadly, looking down at the chemistry set, not before placing his goggles back on in case of any harsh chemicals could affect his eyes. "But it seems as if I'm the only one who truly loves science and no one else understands me."

"N-No one understands y-you because you l-love science?" asked Amber. Kowalski nodded sadly.

"I once created a blob of living jelly by accident which I named Jiggles," he began. "But everyone was afraid of him and no one understood my bond with him. However, it soon became clear that he was indeed dangerous when he swallowed me, thinking I was fruit."

"I-I-It swallowed you?" asked Amber.

Kowalski nodded. "However, I managed to escape with the help of fish which Jiggles hated."

"I g-guess I can s-see," said Amber. "N-No one understood m-me either."

"What do you mean?" asked Kowalski.

Amber sighed. "W-Well, b-back at my old z-zoo, I was k-kind of the sm-smart one but everyone p-picked on me."

"You're smart?" asked Kowalski. "And everyone picked on you?"

Amber blushed. "W-Well, to be honest, I k-kind of like science and I'd r-rather not t-talk about w-what happened at my old z-zoo."

Kowalski looked at her to see a slightly honest look in her hazel-brown eyes. "Really?" he asked.

Amber nodded. "I-It was another h-hobby I enjoyed t-to do."

Kowalski's eyes lit up in delight and a slight smile appeared on his face. "Well, what do you know?" he asked curiously.

Amber looked down and blushed lightly. "W-Well, I c-can memorize the periodic table. I've only g-gotten up to m-magnesium though."

Kowalski smiled lightly. "Well, care to explain what any of the elements do?"

Amber looked down and mumbled, "I w-would but I'm afraid I-I'll get t-teased about it, s-sorry."

"Don't worry. I won't tease you," replied Kowalski.

Amber sighed in relief. "W-Well, I know helium is used in balloons and it's the second element on the table."

Kowalski nodded. However, Amber didn't feel convinced about his nod. It seemed like a boredom nod.

"L-Lithium's used in batteries, I think," she said, trying to think if the answer was true. "I know it's the fourth element with the atomic number three."

"Yes, that is true," answered Kowalski.

"Carbon is the fifth element on the table. CO2 is the scientific name for carbon dioxide," she said before slightly giggling, remembering that she had heard Kowalski mumble that fact in his sleep.

"What are you giggling about?" he asked.

Amber continued to giggle a little more before she noticed him cocking an eyebrow slightly. She stopped and slightly blushed.

"Um… I kind of… well…" she stammered.

"You what?" asked Kowalski.

"I kind of… heard you… talk in your sleep," answered Amber, turning dark red. "But that's not how I know so much."

Kowalski's eyes widened. "You heard me sleep talking?" he asked.

Amber blushed harder and nodded. A smile slightly appeared on Kowalski's face before he laughed slightly. Amber couldn't believe he wasn't mad at her. She slightly chuckled along with him in embarrassment as her cheeks glowed. She was able to hear him laugh for the first time; his laughter sounded deep and sexy to her. She felt herself melt as his laughter echoed through her ear canals, sounding like music.

"So, anyways, would you care to experiment with me?" asked Kowalski, smiling.

Amber's heart fluttered and her eyes lit up in delight. Was she really able to experiment with a guy she had a crush on? Did he really want her to experiment with her? Wait; this wasn't quite right.

"But w-what about Skipper?" she said. "H-He might get all p-paranoid if he f-finds out we-"

"I'm sure he won't get too paranoid," said Kowalski. "Now, would you like to experiment with me?"

Amber went deep red and nodded her head. Yes, she was able to experiment with the guy of her dreams. She slowly sat herself down beside Kowalski, nerves beginning to get the best of her. Kowalski handed Amber a pair of goggles and she slipped them on. So for the next few hours, the two experimented together as they mixed chemicals together and watched as bubbles fizzed and sizzled in beakers. As Kowalski carefully mixed chemicals together into a beaker, Amber rested her head on her flippers, staring at him through her goggles dreamily. It seemed as if everything had gone into slow motion as a beaker fizzed slowly and Kowalski's facial expressions changed slowly, showing how gorgeous he looked to her. Kowalski turned to Amber to see her staring at him. Immediately, she noticed him looking at her oddly and turned away, her face turning red like fire.

"Um… s-sorry about that," she said, embarrassed.

Kowalski took his pair of fogged-up goggles off and placed them down on the table and flicked away some sweat on his forehead. After hours of experimenting with chemicals, the heat had gotten to him.

"So, how much do you know about the solar system?" he asked.

"The solar system?" replied Amber. "I do know that the planets were named after gods and goddesses."

"Ah, the Roman gods and goddesses," said Kowalski. "Mercury, named after the Roman god Mercury, the god of trade. Mercury is also an element on the periodic table, usually used in thermometers."

"Venus, the second planet in the solar system, was named after the goddess of love and beauty," said Amber, slightly blushing. "And I know that Earth is the only planet home to living species and formed nearly four point four million years ago."

"What else would you know about earth?" asked Kowalski, interested.

Amber blushed. "Well, th-that's pretty much I know right now," she said back.

"I see. If I am correct, Mars was named after the god of fire," said Kowalski. "And Jupiter was named after the god of thunder, also the fifth planet, consisting mainly of gas and hydrogen."

"Saturn I think was named after the god of time; it is also a gas giant with nine rings, consisting of ice particles, containing rocky debris and dust," said Amber. "Uranus was named after the god of the sky. It was also discovered on March 13, 1781."

Kowalski smiled in impression. "Neptune I believe was named after the god of the sea. Seventeen times the mass of Earth, it is slightly more massive than Uranus. Also, the planet was discovered on September 23, 1846," he said.

Amber smiled, knowing he really was smart and intelligent. "Pluto was named after the goddess of the underworld. Even though it is no longer considered a planet, it is the second most massive dwarf planet and is the largest member of a distinct population known as the Kuiper belt."

Kowalski smiled, completely impressed with her intelligence. "You really are a smart animal," he said.

Amber blushed. "R-Really?" she asked.

Kowalski nodded. Amber blushed more, her crush thinking she was smart made her get butterflies in her stomach and she felt a gooey feeling inside her system, feeling herself melt like a hot pit of lava.

"Speaking of outer space, have you ever stargazed before?" asked Kowalski.

"Um… not really," replied Amber. "I really would want to get a closer look at the moon some day."

"Well, maybe I can show you one night," replied Kowalski.

Amber's heart fluttered more and her face turned brighter red. Would he really want to show her a closer look at the moon? Would he really take her out one night to show her a closer look at the moon? Just the two of them under the stars to see the moon? Just the two together? Amber could already see the two of them, sitting under the stars with the full moon beaming down on them. A slightly goofy smile appeared on her face and her eyes slightly drooped.

"I'd like that… a lot," she said dreamily.

"I believe there is a full moon this week, I could take you out to see it," said Kowalski.

Amber's eyes lit up in delight. "R-R-Really? You'd take me out to see it?" she asked, her hazel-brown eyes shining in the light in the room.

"Well, that is entirely Skipper's decision," replied Kowalski. "We may be doing a mission that night or could be having a game of risk or I may even be on aerial duty."

Amber's hopes of going out with him were gone. Her smile slightly faded away as a frown slightly took over. "Oh, okay," she said, a tone of sadness in her voice.

Kowalski noticed her sad look but wasn't sure what to do. After all, he did have some problems comprehending with emotions and feelings and… women. He was just the options guy; he couldn't do much about it.

"Don't worry, I can show you a closer look of the moon one day," he said firmly.

Amber looked up at him, a hint of happiness in her eyes. "S-Sure, I'd love that."

"Anyways, I did see you drawing back over there," said Kowalski, looking over at the sketch pad, lying there.

"Oh, yeah, I draw… and sketch," replied Amber. "It's another passion of mine."

She then walked over to where her sketch pad was, picked it up and then waddled back over to Kowalski. She opened it up to the first page to reveal many different coloured flowers, consisting of daisies, sunflowers, roses, violets and daffodils, each coloured with water coloured colouring pencils.

"Flowers?" asked Kowalski.

"Well, I'm not much of a flower drawer but I just felt I had to draw them," replied Amber.

"It's… nice," said Kowalski, examining the picture.

Amber blushed. "Th-thank y-you."

And then she flipped the next page over to reveal a drawing of different candy, consisting of peppermints, butterscotch lollies, lollypops, chocolates and caramel. Kowalski's eyes widened at the sight of the candy coloured page, his love for candy arising. Suddenly, a silly smile appeared on his face and his pupils shrank.

"Candy! Candy!" he exclaimed crazily in excitement, clapping his flippers together lightly. But then he stopped once he saw a confused look on Amber's face. His flippers dropped, knowing he looked like an idiot. "Sorry about that, I just love candy."

Amber's confused face disappeared, changing to a rather happy look. "I-I didn't know y-you loved candy," she said, still feeling a little confused with his odd behaviour.

"Well, I do love candy," replied Kowalski. "One time, we were all bribed to celebrate King Julien Day with a candy-stuffed piñata and boy was I happy about the candy at the end."

Amber giggled in happiness. Although she didn't even know Kowalski loved candy, she felt grateful she had drawn that picture of candy. To get of the candy topic, she flipped over the next page to reveal her sketch of the base. Kowalski's eyes examined the sketch carefully, examining every inch of the drawing; from the shading on the walls to the TV set in the corner to the shaded floor.

"Wow, you've captured the looks of our base nicely," he said, still examining it.

Amber blushed again. "Th-thank you… again."

And then she slowly closed the book, her blush spreading out a little more across her face. Suddenly, Kowalski's eyes drooped and a smile appeared on his face as he leaned in a little closer to Amber.

"Amber, you know we're alone, don't you?" he said firmly.

Amber noticed his look and slowly nodded, her face turning redder. Her flipper's grip on the book loosened as it fell out of her flippers and dropped to the floor. Kowalski leaned in closer to her red-stained face and her heart began to race.

"Now tell me that you love me," he whispered.

What? What did he just say? Did he already know? Did he somehow read her mind with an invisible mind-reading helmet he had just invented and now he knew she was in love with him?

"I… I… I…" stuttered Amber.

"Come on, just say it," said Kowalski.

"I… l-love y-y-you…" replied Amber, her face boiling red.

Kowalski's smile grew wider and his eyes drooped more as his face came closer to Amber's. "Good. Now close your eyes and pucker for me," he whispered.

Was this it? Was it all happening so fast? Was Kowalski suddenly going to give her the most passionate kiss in her life? It was happening too fast! But Amber couldn't help it no longer. She did as Kowalski said and closed her eyes and puckered, now in his spell. But was it really happening?

"Amber," said Kowalski.

"Yes?" asked Amber, her eyes still closed and her beak still puckered, looking like an idiot.

"You're um… kind of…" replied Kowalski.

Amber slowly opened her eyes to see Kowalski staring at her with a strange and confused look. He wasn't in her face or he didn't have a look of making out on his face. She looked down to see her beak still puckered and then looked back at Kowalski. She had completely fallen into a daze and was now looking like a complete idiot in front of the guy she loved! Her face turned deep red and her beak dropped open in complete embarrassment. She had never felt so embarrassed before! Suddenly, as she spun around in embarrassment, she tripped over and fell forward, ending up collapsing into Kowalski's flippers. As she looked up, her face became redder, redder than a boiling pit of lava.

"You're face is red," Kowalski said, looking down at her oddly, feeling odd that she was in his flippers. "Are you coming down with a fever?"

Amber continued to stare into his face, her heart throbbing against her chest in embarrassment. She had been caught in the flippers of her true love.

"N-N-No," she stuttered and then pulled away.

"Oh, good," said Kowalski in relief.

Amber lightly chuckled, rubbing the back of her head. She then looked over her shoulder to see the time on the clock. Wow, it seemed… late.

"Wow, look at the time," she said and then let out a fake yawn. "I think I'll go to bed now. I'm getting a little tired."

"Alright," replied Kowalski. "You have a good sleep."

Amber smiled, blushing. "Y-Yeah. G-Good night." And then she waddled off to her bunk and got in. She looked back to see Kowalski scribbling on his notepad. She reached behind her pillow and pulled out her little purple book, opened it up and began writing in it with her pencil. She wrote;

_Dear Diary. Today, Marlene the otter took me out on a tour around the zoo. It was really cool meeting the other zoo inhabitants. I then finally communicated with Kowalski to learn we both have a lot in common. I had a daze about him too and fell right into his flippers. It was so embarrassing. Now I know it; I am definitely in love with him._

She then closed the book and hugged it as she sighed dreamily. She now knew it; she was in love with Kowalski. She couldn't deny it. She looked back to see Kowalski still writing down on his notepad. She then slowly put the book back behind the pillow and then placed her head against the pillow and snoozed off into a deep sleep.

_A/N: That's it for today! Wow, Amber and Kowalski do have a lot in common. Since Amber is based on me, I'm not that good with science and I am certainly no flower drawer xD Anyways, stay tuned to read more when the next chapter is posted! Until then, please review!_


	5. Cute And Cuddly

_A/N: The next chapter of our love story is up! Last time in our lovely fanfic, Amber and Kowalski became rather close friends. Anyways, let's get on with this next chapter!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

CHAPTER FIVE

CUTE AND CUDDLY

The next morning had already arrived. It only seemed like not only yesterday Amber had arrived at the zoo and found herself crushing on Kowalski. Skipper, Private and Rico were already back at the base, all tired from a long night of aerial recon duty. However, Skipper knew best to keep at it and not slack off.

"So, did you find anything strange about her?" asked Skipper, stirring his cup of coffee with a fish gently.

"Not at all, sir," replied Kowalski. "But she does seem rather interested in science."

"Interested… in science?" asked Skipper as if that was a bad answer.

Kowalski nodded. "We spent a few hours together, talking about science and-"

"What did I say about her asking any questions?" Skipper shot.

"Skipper, I believe she is not a spy."

"You never know, Kowalski. She could just be in fact a spy."

"Well, she hasn't asked any particular questions yet."

At that moment, Amber awoke from her deep slumber and yawned a bit. She rubbed her eyes a bit, removing a blurred vision and turned to see Skipper and Kowalski talking to each other.

"I still don't trust her, Kowalski," said Skipper.

"Well, you'll have to face facts sooner or later," replied Kowalski. "Amber could just be a regular penguin."

Amber felt herself blush just by hearing Kowalski say her very name like she had never heard him say her name before. She popped her head out of her bunk and saw Private and Rico asleep in the top bunks. Rico was busy snoring away like a dog while Private let out light moans. She looked back over at Kowalski as her eyes drooped at the sight of him. He looked even nicer from a far distance. He was just so-

"Were you listening to us the whole time?"

She was immediately cut off once she heard that. She turned her eyes to Skipper to see him looking at her with sharp eyes and a cocked expression.

"I just woke up," she said, knowing she wasn't spying on them.

"Oh, is that so?" Skipper snapped back, this time a hint of paranoia in his tone.

Amber sighed in annoyance.

"Skipper, I do believe she only woke up," said Kowalski.

"And how do you know?" asked Skipper.

Amber sighed again.

"Well, judging from the fact that her snoring had only cut off precisely about," Kowalski pulled out his abacus and calculated as he moved beads from there to here before finishing with, "A minute ago."

Amber felt herself blush again. Was she snoring? And he had heard her snore? Was it true?

"I-I was sn-snoring?" she asked in embarrassment.

"Well, yes apparently," replied Kowalski.

Amber blushed once again, her cheeks glowing like fire.

* * *

One fine, sunny day had arrived at the zoo as the sky was filled with a dim blue, not a trace of any clouds. The sun was beaming down on the zoo like a giant lamp in the sky. It was also the perfect day for performing to the passing crowds. The penguins were on top of the platform, awaiting Skipper's order to begin the performance. Amber scanned her eyes around at the crowds, feeling an intense feeling of nervousness. Not only were the crowds getting to her but Kowalski seemed to be topping it all.

Nearby all the commotion, Alice was standing amongst the crowd, holding several boxes of stinky fish in her arms. She groaned in disgust at the smell of the sea food and rolled her eyeballs.

"Two bucks to feed the penguins," she said aloud as people from here and there approached her, handed her money and took the boxes of fish. After it was all gone, she let her arms drop to her sides and she walked off, a bored expression appearing on her face.

"Skipper, when are we going to begin?" asked Private.

"Not yet, young Private," replied Skipper, keeping his confident look as he looked at all the people around. "You gotta know when to start."

Amber continued to look around. When were they going to begin?

"So, w-what are we doing again?" she asked Kowalski nervously.

"A performance," he said. "We perform our cute sides to the crowds thus obtaining fish in the process."

"C-c-cute sides?" she almost stuttered. Wait; she just did.

Kowalski nodded. Amber looked down, beginning to turn red. The penguins were about to perform cute and cuddly tactics right in front of her. Kowalski was going to show off his adorable side and she was going to see it. See the man of her dreams perform right before her hazel brown eyes. Immediately, the very thought of Kowalski acting sexy appeared in her mind as she saw him swing his hips and shake his booty.

"All right, commence operation; Cute and Cuddly!" exclaimed Skipper, knocking Amber out of her thoughts.

And with that, the penguins set off to work and they began performing adorably. Skipper was shaking his booty to the crowds while Rico proceeded to performing making-out moves with himself. "AWWW," went the crowds in glee. Private was acting as adorable as ever as he rocked back and forth on his back like a toddler before standing up and blowing kisses to the crowds. "AWWW," the crowds moaned, practically melting in cheer. Amber smiled at how spectacular the penguins were performing. She turned to see Kowalski and that was when her eyes widened and her beak almost dropped open in awe. What she saw was Kowalski swinging his hips back and forth while waving his flippers up high.

"Amber, are you just going to stand there or do something?" she was immediately cut off as she turned to Skipper.

"Um… like what?" she asked.

"Just perform," whispered Private, still blowing kisses.

"Perform? But how? I've never done this type of thing before," asked Amber.

"Just do anything that you think is cute," replied Private before face planting himself into the water.

Amber looked around, trying to think up anything cute. She smiled before she held her flippers up and wiggled her hips in a rhythmic pattern. The crowds cheered for her, putting a bigger smile on her face. She then spun around on the spot like a ballerina, giggling in happiness. The crowds' cheers grew louder as they began to focus on Amber in delight. The penguins looked over at her to see her now revealing her feminine side as she placed her flippers together and battered her eyelashes, her hazel brown eyes glowing in the sunlight. The crowds roared in enjoyment.

Meanwhile, from afar, King Julien was sitting in his royal throne while Maurice waved a large leaf over him. King Julien pulled out a bowl of fruit, consisting of what appeared to be small red nuts known as lychee nuts. Previously, he had gone full speed loco after eating the nuts and was sent to the zoo infirmary. Maurice was on the same track after he had some, followed by Mort. King Julien took a lychee nut from the bowl and flipped it into the air like a coin. It then descended downwards and fell into his mouth. He crunched into it and sighed in delight.

"Your majesty, I don't think you should eat too many of those," said Maurice,

"Relax, Maurice," replied King Julien. "I won't be eating too many this time."

And like that, he took another lychee nut and placed it into his mouth and crunched into it. Suddenly, his appetite for lychee nuts was cut off as a disgusting smell lingered through his nostrils. He groaned in disgust as he poked his tongue out. He immediately looked at Mort suspiciously.

"Mort, what do you have to say for yourself?" he asked him.

"Sorry, your majesty!" piped Mort before he ran up to King Julien and began hugging his feet. Oh no. This was not good. "I'm very sorry!"

"Mort, do not touch the royal feet!" yelled King Julien, forcing Mort off his royal feet.

"Your majesty, I don't think it was Mort," said Maurice while pointing a finger in another direction.

King Julien's eyes followed his right hand man's finger to see he was indeed correct. He was pointing straight towards the penguin habitat. Already, he knew the smell could have been from there.

"Oh, no! Not them!" exclaimed King Julien. "Not the stinkity penguins! How am I supposed to be enjoying my breakfast when they are performing?"

But then as he continued to watch the sight, his eyes fell on Amber, who was now blowing kisses to the crowds. She looked so happy, so gleeful, so pretty, so charming and so on. King Julien's eyes lit up and a smile appeared on his face.

"Maurice! Who is that beautiosity?" he exclaimed happily.

"I haven't a clue," replied Maurice, now noticing the new female penguin. "I've never seen her before in my life."

"Maybe she's their sister!" said Mort.

King Julien made a noise with his mouth and said, "Silly Mort!"

"Well, how do we know?" asked Maurice.

"That's a good question," said King Julien, still eyeing Amber with a look of delight in his yellow eyes. "But isn't she the most prettiest penguin you ever saw?"

Maurice and Mort shrugged their shoulders.

Meanwhile, back at the penguin habitat, the penguins were busy watching Amber performing like a model.

"She's actually pulling it off nicely," said Skipper, impressed with the performance coming from the guest penguin.

"I've never seen such a beautiful thing before," said Private.

"If she keeps this up, we'll be swimming in all the fish we want," added Kowalski.

"Fiiiiish!" squawked Rico crazily.

"Men, let's give this crowd what they want," said Skipper.

And with that, the penguins marched over into Amber's direction and began shaking their hips and booties, making the glee struck crowd moaned, "AWWW." Amber's smile grew bigger before she looked over at Kowalski who was standing right next to her, moving his hips back and forth like a hula doll. Her eyes drooped at the sight of him.

Suddenly, one of Private's flippers hit Kowalski by accident, causing Kowalski to tumble towards Amber. Amber stopped what she was doing once she saw Kowalski tumbling towards her and then she fell to the ground with Kowalski landing on top of her… in a very wrong position! Their beaks were almost touching. Amber's face immediately turned bright red to see her love lying right on top of her. Her heart throbbed in nervousness. Was this part of the act?

"AWWWWW," went the crowds, looking at the romantic sight of the tall penguin on top of the female penguin. Were they… mating?

"Well, at least the crowd likes it," said Private, noticing Skipper's eye twitching at the sight.

After a while, Kowalski moved off Amber and pulled her up. Her face was stained with blush like someone had just spilt red paint on her face. Kowalski looked away and cleared his throat nervously.

"Spectacular," said Skipper. "Now can we continue?"

Kowalski nodded. Amber tried to hide her fired up face but as she waddled off, she slipped on a puddle of random water lying on the spot and then she went flying into the air! The others watched as she suddenly lost momentum in the sky and began descending towards the ground! As she came flying down, she landed straight into Kowalski's open flippers! Amber's eyes were shut tight, still thinking she was still falling. Nothing had hit her. She opened her eyes slowly to see the ground below her. She looked up to see the face of her catcher. She immediately turned bright red, just by staring into Kowalski's face. Already, she could feel her heart fluttering, her stomach growing butterflies from nervousness.

It was all cut off when the crowds roared loudly at the lovely sight. Children were cheering happily, adults were shouting in joy and the elderly were clapping merrily. The penguins looked around, knowing they had completed their mission. Skipper placed his flippers on his hips and smiled.

"We did it!" said Private.

"Yay!" squealed Rico.

And then, the crowds tossed fish into the penguin habitat as they continued to cheer. One by one, fish landed on the platform, soon filling it up like rubble had just piled up from an earthquake. Soon, the crowds began to disappear, leaving the penguins to their collected piles of fish.

"Well done, team," began Skipper with his flippers behind his back. "I'm proud of you."

"According to my calculations, this is the biggest amount of fish we've made in a month," said Kowalski after tinkering with his abacus.

"Well, I'll be," said Skipper before turning to Amber.

"Okay, what?" she asked.

Skipper shook his head and smiled. "Congratulations. You earned us quite a lot of fish today."

Amber's eyes lit up. He didn't have a tone of paranoia this time. He had a smile. "Really?" she asked.

"You sure did," Kowalski said, now standing next to Skipper.

Amber blushed. "Y-yeah, I g-guess I did," she said, placing a flipper behind her back and chuckling.

"You sure got us a lot of fish," added Private. "Especially when you fell into Kowalski's flippers. It was so adorable!"

Amber turned dark red, turning away from Kowalski. Rico looked up from eating some fish and began to feel sick.

"Oh and how Kowalski fell right on top of you," Private added, almost smirking.

Kowalski felt himself turn red as well, also turning away. Rico felt sicker.

"Private, let's cut down on the mushiness, please," said Skipper. "Rico's here."

"Sorry, Skipper," replied Private.

The penguins could barely talk about mushy gooey love stuff around Rico. His stomach was too weak for the subject. The very sound of anything mushy related would make him run to the bathroom and throw up.

* * *

Dark clouds arrived that night at the zoo, darkening up the sky so no twinkling stars or bright moon were out. Rain began to fell heavily like drops of tears down onto the zoo. It was such a perfect day and was now a dreadful night of rain.

Amber was out on the platform, staring into her rippled reflection in the water below her as raindrops created ripples in the water. She seemed to be enjoying the feeling and sound of the rain as it fell against her and boomed loudly. Although it seemed cold, she felt warm on the inside. She felt happy at the same time too. She finally felt like she was in a place she was meant to be in. She couldn't stop thinking about Kowalski. He seemed to be glued to her mind. She couldn't stop thinking about that moment where he landed right on top of her or when she landed straight into his open flippers. She felt so gooey and mushy about that feeling. Not only was Kowalski making her feeling happier but the zoo too. Everyone seemed very kind. And she had never performed a performance before. She had now learnt how to with the help of the penguins. Everything seemed… perfect.

_I'm home,_ she thought to herself.

Suddenly, she was cut off when she heard the fishbowl behind her move. She turned around to see Kowalski poke his head out.

"Oh, there you are," he said.

Amber looked away from him. "Y-yeah."

"What are you doing out here by yourself?" asked Kowalski.

"I just w-wanted to l-listen to the sound of the r-rain," replied Amber. "Rain makes me f-feel better."

"Well, you may want to come inside now," said Kowalski. "Wouldn't want you to catch a fever."

Amber felt herself blush again once more. Did he really mean that?

"Y-you mean that?" she asked.

Kowalski nodded. She then got up and waddled over the hatch and followed him into the base. After a hard day's work, the penguins were all in their bunks, sleeping away.

Amber lay awake in her bunk, writing into her purple diary.

_Dear Diary. Today, the penguins and I held a performance for the crowds. We were all doing adorable things and boy, Kowalski was shaking his hips very well. And then, he fell right on top of me! And then, I fell right into his flippers! It was just so embarrassing yet cute!_

She closed the book and giggled in embarrassment. Suddenly, she sneezed and then coughed. She placed her book behind the pillow and then rubbed her eyes before she fell back and soon fell asleep.

_A/N: That's it for today! I really enjoyed writing this chapter. I had fun with it. What will happen next time? And what does King Julien have in store for Amber? And why did Amber just sneeze and cough? Until then, please read and review!_


	6. Fevers And Feelings

_A/N: For once, a chapter is posted quickly! Last time, the penguins decided to perform for the crowds and something odd happened between Amber and Kowalski. And what happened at the end? Well, you'll find out today!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

CHAPTER SIX

FEVERS AND FEELINGS

A blurred vision came into focus as Amber's eyes slowly opened. She yawned as she heaved her flippers up and rubbed her eyes. However, her vision remained blurry. She blinked a few times before rubbing her eyes again, forcing her vision to become clear. She could swear her hearing was off as everything seemed to echo.

She sat up in her bunk to reveal a sick look on her face! Her eyes were heavily drooped with sleeping bags underneath them and her cheeks were bright red. She was not in tip-top shape! She stiffly turned her head to the side to see the penguins sitting at the table. She couldn't make out what they were saying as her echoed hearing was making it hard for her to listen. She groaned as she forced herself out of her bunk and onto her feet.

"Ah, nothing like another Sunday morning in the HQ, eh men?" began Skipper, stirring his morning cup of coffee with a fish happily.

"Indeed," said Kowalski while scribbling on his yellow notepad.

Rico didn't say anything as he was too busy eating a plate of fish with large amounts of salt sprinkled all over his meal while holding a fork and knife in his flippers, not that he was using them.

"Guys, aren't you all worried about how Amber was sitting outside in the rain last night?" asked Private.

Skipper almost choked on his coffee at the sound of that. "You actually let her out?" he asked.

"Well, she was out there for about ten minutes or something," replied Private not wanting to make the subject sound bad.

"I did tell her to come in," said Kowalski. "She did."

"She could have been up to something!" said Skipper. "She could have wandered off and stole zoo secrets! You know how I feel about that!"

"She was here the whole time," said Private. "I was checking on her through the periscope."

Skipper looked at him and then at Kowalski who nodded, agreeing with Private. Skipper sighed.

"M-morning," Amber's voice mumbled.

Rico and Private looked behind themselves (their backs were facing her) while Skipper and Kowalski looked over. Their eyes widened at the sight of her sick face, even a fish fell out of Rico's mouth.

"Amber, are you okay?" asked Private.

"I… I… I don't th-think so…" she mumbled back.

"Are you feeling well?" asked Skipper, cocking an eyebrow.

"I… I… I feel…"

"Amber, I believe you have a-"

"AHH! Kowalski!" Amber nearly screamed before her eyes rolled back and she fainted with a _THUD!_

The penguins immediately got out of their seats and rushed over to her. She lay there, unconsciously, her face now becoming the same colour as her cheeks.

"Kowalski; analysis," ordered Skipper, looking over at Kowalski.

The options penguin nodded and got onto his knees (if he had any) and began examining the unconscious penguin's look. He placed a flipper on her chest, already feeling a heart beat. He then brought his flipper up to her neck to feel a pulse. Indeed, she was still alive. She had only passed out. Kowalski looked back up at Skipper who was waiting for an answer, same with Private and Rico.

"Well?" asked Skipper.

Kowalski cleared his throat and replied with, "Well, it appears she has come down with a fever. She may have caught it from the rain."

"I knew she shouldn't have stayed out there for too long," said Private, staring at the sick, unconscious penguin.

"No one told me she was out there," said Skipper with his flippers on his hips.

"Should we take her to the infirmary?" suggested Private.

"Wouldn't they be suspicious if she just showed up there in her condition?" answered Skipper. "We can't take that action."

"But how will she get better then?" asked Private.

"Well, one of us will have to look after her, take care of her fever," said Skipper, rubbing the bottom of his beak. He then turned to Kowalski and said, "Kowalski, I'm putting you in charge of looking after her."

Kowalski stood up before looking down at the passed out penguin and back at his leader and nodded. "Will do, sir," he said.

He then picked Amber up in his flippers and carried her towards her bunk and placed her in. She remained unconscious but her heart was still beating, indicating she was still alive.

"Well, time for training, boys," said Skipper.

Private and Rico looked at each other and then followed their leader out through the hatch. Before Private made his way out, he looked back at Kowalski and smiled.

"Make sure she's-" he said, starting to chuckle. "She's okay."

"What's so funny?" he asked.

Private shook his head and giggled before climbing up the ladder and left. It seemed like he already knew Amber's little secret crush. Kowalski sighed and then looked back at Amber to see she was still unconscious. He could hear her breathing, breathing rather raspy. He pulled a brick seat over towards the bunk and sat down on it. He sat there, waiting for her to wake up. Waiting… waiting… waiting… until he got to the point where his eyes began to droop and soon, he dozed off.

Amber's eyes began to open, revealing a blurry vision. She blinked a couple of times, forcing the blurred vision away. She looked down to see she was back in her bunk before looking to her side to see Kowalski was sitting on a brick seat beside her, snoring away. She giggled slightly.

Immediately, he awoke to the sound of her giggle and exclaimed, "W-what? W-who's there?"

He stopped once he saw Amber was now awake, lying in her bunk. He sighed in relief.

"Oh, it was only you," he sighed.

"Um… w-what happened?" she asked him.

"Well, you fainted a while ago," replied Kowalski. "And I believe you have a fever."

"A fever?" gasped Amber.

"It's alright-"

"Alright? I have a fever! That's not-" but then Amber began choking harshly on the last set of words.

"Please, calm down. No need to strain yourself," said Kowalski, placing a flipper on her shoulder.

Amber panted and breathed harshly, regaining her breath. She looked at her shoulder to see he was touching it. Her red-stained face became redder from sickness and embarrassment.

"Now, I'm going to get some supplies from my lab. Stay right here," said Kowalski before getting off his seat and heading towards his lab. He opened the door and walked in.

Amber took all this time to think over what had just happened. Why did she have this fever? How? Did she catch it from another zoo animal? Wait; what was the last thing she did before the fever? _The rain!_ she thought. And now she was sick, lying in her bunk. And the man of her dreams was going to cure her. What a nice thing of him to do!

_I can't believe I have a fever and he decided to take care of me,_ Amber thought to herself. _I'm so embarrassed yet so happy at the same time!_

Her thoughts vanished once she heard Kowalski's footsteps came out of the lab. She looked over to see him holding what looked like a medical bag, complete with a red plus on it, indicating a first aide sign. Around his neck was a stethoscope and around his head was what looked like a head mirror. He waddled up to her and sat back down on the brick seat.

"All right, let's check that heart rate of yours," he said.

"M-m-my h-heart rate?" asked Amber placing her flippers over her chest.

Kowalski nodded as he pulled out the stethoscope. "Now can you please remove your flippers?"

Amber looked into his blue eyes and nodded her head and slowly removed her flippers away from her chest. Kowalski placed the stethoscope on and then placed the mic against her chest and moved it around, scanning for the source of her heart. Once he had found it, he began focusing closely.

"Could you take a deep breath please?" he asked.

Amber did as he asked and took in a nice, deep breath. Immediately, her heartbeats became clear. Kowalski listened carefully as her heartbeats pounded against his ear canals, going _BOM-BOM! BOM-BOM! BOM-BOM_!

"Perfect right now," he said.

It was then the sound of his voice that made her heart slightly beat faster. As she stared at him, her heart began to pick up the pace. Kowalski continued to listen and focus on her heart rate and then noticed it beginning to speed up. And then, it began to throb, now going _BO-BOM! BO-BOM! BO-BOM!_ and was twice as loud! It throbbed madly against Amber's chest and her breathing was beginning to speed up! Kowalski slowly removed the mic away and removed the stethoscope from his ear canals and placed it back around his neck.

"It appears that you have a very high heart rate," he said.

"I-it is?" asked Amber, her chest being attacked from her pounding heart.

"It must be working overtime," continued Kowalski.

Amber's heart continued to beat against her chest like a drum roll. It was not only working overtime but it was beating in nervousness because Amber's crush was sitting right there in front of her, taking care of her.

"All right, now that we've checked your heart rate," he said. "I want you to pucker."

Amber's eyes lit up and the redness on her face brightened up.

"P-p-pucker?" she stammered.

"Yes. Pucker for me," answered Kowalski.

What this is? What he going to? What he going to give her what she thought it was?

_Is this it? Is he going to k-k-kiss me?_ Amber asked herself in her mind, red beginning to go to every part of her face, igniting her face on fire.

"Well?" asked Kowalski, cocking an eyebrow.

Amber came out of her thoughts and noticed Kowalski's cocked expression, patiently waiting for an answer. She nodded slowly and then, believing what she thought it was, closed her eyes and puckered tightly, ready for it.

"I'm ready," she muttered before going back to puckering.

Kowalski looked at her oddly before reaching a flipper into the medical bag, searching for something as he moved his flipper around.

_This is it,_ Amber thought to herself. _He's going to kiss me. I just know it. Any minute now, he's going to put his beak against mine and-_

But then she was cut off the moment she felt something was placed inside her mouth. Her eyes shot open to see a thermometer sticking out of her mouth. No kiss. Just a thermometer. That was the big pucker question? The mercury inside the thermometer immediately began to rise as Amber's face turned deep red, boiling her up. What is getting hot in here or what? Even Kowalski's eyes focused on the thermometer as the mercury rose higher and nearly even reached the end!

"Whoa mama!" gasped Kowalski before pulling the thermometer out and studying it carefully. "Seventy-five degrees? That is one high fever!"

Amber frowned in disappointment, her red face becoming darker. Was it anger making her face become darker?

"What's the matter?" asked Kowalski, noticing her frown.

"It's… it's nothing…" answered Amber.

"Please do tell me," replied Kowalski.

Amber looked back at him, looking into his blue eyes. He certainly seemed to want to know what she didn't want to tell him. She sighed.

"It's just this fever and all," she said. "I… I can't take it…"

Indeed, she could not take it. Kowalski could tell as her entire face was on fire and her eyes were drooped like she was being hypnotized. She sniffled and groaned in pain.

"Perhaps a nap would help you," suggested Kowalski.

"I suppose so," she said, smiling a little but sill moaned in pain, the fever getting to her head.

"All right, just lay back now," said Kowalski, getting off his seat.

Amber did as he told her and lay back on her back. Kowalski brought up the sheet from the end of her bunk and placed it over her heated body.

"Now you just need something to cool you down," said Kowalski before marching back into his lab.

The sound of water pouring out of a tap could be suddenly heard inside the lab. After a minute or so, Kowalski came out with a bucker full of cold water in his flippers, complete with a flannel around his neck. Water dripped down the sides of the bucket as he waddled over to Amber's bunk. He placed it down on the brick seat, dipped the flannel into it, folded it up and placed it onto Amber's forehead.

"All right, that should help cool you down," he said.

Amber smiled at him. "Th-thank you… for all your h-help," she said to him.

"You're welcome," he said back.

Amber smiled and then closed her drooped, heavy eyes and was soon in a deep sleep. Her face remained bright red while her sleep bags remained visible. The cold wetness from the wet flannel seeped into her forehead, cooling her hot head down.

_A/N: Wow that was a quick chapter to post! It appears that Amber has come down with a fever! Will Amber be cured with Kowalski's medical help? Found out next time!_


	7. A Heart Pounding Nightmare

_A/N: Yay! New chappie! Last time, Amber caught a fever and Kowalski was put in charge to look after her. Will Amber be cured? Find out today!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

CHAPTER SEVEN

A HEART POUNDING NIGHTMARE

"Is she alright?" Skipper asked Kowalski some time later back in the HQ, along with Rico and Private, after training for what seemed to be hours of hard work.

"She's still under the weather," answered Kowalski, sitting at the table. "I checked her heart rate and temperature, both incredibly high."

"How high?" asked Private.

"Her heart rate was exceedingly high, probably working overtime," replied Kowalski before looking over Skipper's shoulder to see Amber was still asleep, her face still as red as a tomato.

"And her temperature?" asked Skipper, also taking a peek over at the ill Amber.

"At least seventy-five degrees," replied Kowalski.

Private gasped in shock, "Is she going to be okay?"

"Relax, young Private," said Skipper, rubbing his back. "Kowalski here is a medic genius. He'll cure her in no time, right?"

Kowalski chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck. Suddenly, Private began to giggle a bit, glancing back at Amber, sleeping like Sleeping Beauty, and back at Kowalski.

"Can I ask you what's so funny?" asked Kowalski.

Private smirked, "Was her heart beating fast because-" he burst out into a fit of giggles.

Kowalski and Skipper, even Rico who was busily combing his doll girlfriend's hair in a corner, stared at the young penguin, chuckling away. What was up with him? Wait; did he just know-?

"Either Private's gone mad or someone's given him an entire box of peanut butter winkies," said Skipper, placing his flippers on his hips, looking around suspiciously.

Suddenly, at that moment, something popped in through the hatch and appeared below. "Hey, guys," a voice said before the penguins turned around and immediately charged towards the intruder and tackled him/her down to the ground. It didn't take them long to realise they had just pinned Marlene down, not a spy.

"Guys, it's only me," she moaned.

"Well, you could have knocked, you know," Skipper shot back, removing his flippers away from her head.

Rico let go of her legs while Kowalski and Private let go of her arms. Marlene got up and brushed herself off. She was pretty used to the penguins' welcome wagon of charging up on her and holding her down, believing her to be an intruder.

"We're really sorry, Marlene," said Private, slightly embarrassed.

Marlene just rolled her eyes before spotting Amber fast asleep in her bunk, her red face glowing like a luminous red candle.

"Oh, my gosh, what happened to Amber?" she immediately asked in concern.

Skipper thought for a second, "That's… classified."

"Amber caught a fever from the rain," piped Private, ignoring Skipper who rolled his eyeballs in annoyance.

"Oh, my gosh, that's terrible," Marlene repeated. "Is she going to be okay?"

"Apparently, her fever is extremely high at the moment," answered Kowalski. "She may have to rest in bed for a few days. Hopefully, she recovers soon in no time."

"Hope you got your answer, Marlene," moaned Skipper. "Now what's the real emergency?"

Marlene thought for a second. Why had she come to the penguins? Oh, right.

"Julien made Joey pretty angry just now," she said. "Joey will beat him up for good!"

"Not on my watch!" said Skipper. "Kowalski, you stay here and keep an eye on Amber. Let's move out, men!"

And then he, Private and Rico headed for the hatch and climbed their way out. Marlene grabbed hold of the ladder and followed them up, not before taking another quick look at the ill Amber. She then continued her way up and left. Now it was just Kowalski and Amber all alone again.

_A nightmare slowly began to materialize before Amber's eyes. She was in her bunk, still with a red face and drooped eyes. However, her red face seemed to blend in with the surrounding area around her as the base was lit with bright red lights as if she was in a dark room. Suddenly, Kowalski appeared before her, wearing a mysterious and creepy-looking smile._

"_It appears your fever has gotten worse," he said, smirking._

"_It has?" asked Amber._

_Kowalski nodded before placing a flipper on her burning forehead, already its burning sensation boiled his flipper up. However, he never yanked it away as if it didn't bother him. He continued to smirk._

"_Your forehead is burning," he said before running his flipper down her head towards her chest. Already, he could feel her nervous heartbeat. "And your heart rate is pretty high."_

_Amber's heart pounded faster as she looked into his blue eyes. However, they appeared to be red in the crimson light, bursting with flames. His grin became creepier and his brows furrowed._

"_S-so w-w-what are you g-going to do?" she dared to asked._

_Kowalski's grin broadened and then next thing, he literally threw his flipper right into her chest! And then, without trouble, he pulled it right out to reveal what looked like a beating heart clutched tightly in his flipper! It was beating rapidly, going BO-BOM! BO-BOM! BO-BOM! as blood squirted out with each heartbeat!_

"_AHHHH!" Amber screamed, looking in horror at the sight of her beating heart in his flipper. "Is… is that my heart?"  
_

_Kowalski nodded before saying, "Oh, don't worry. You won't need it anymore," and then he tossed her heart behind him carelessly, causing it to splat against the wall with a SPLAT! and then it began to slowly travel down into a trash can below._

"_AHHHH!" Amber screamed again, horror igniting her face._

"_Oh, don't worry, you can always have mine," and then like that, he reached his flipper deep into his chest and ripped out what appeared to be his heart, beating rapidly as blood ran down his flipper like a rushing river of blood!_

"_No! No! NOOOO!" Amber screamed louder and harder._

_Kowalski cackled evilly and crazily as he held up his throbbing heart, blood shooting out with each heartbeat! Amber screamed at the sight of the evil-looking penguin in terror as he continued to laugh; now looking like a mad scientist from an old horror film! And then, a dramatic and odd lightning strike flashed behind him, indicating the ultimate sign of an evil genius! Kowalski had officially gone crazy! And how were he and Amber still alive? What the heck was going on?_

Amber immediately shot up in her bunk, screaming in fear as she waved her flippers in the air. Suddenly, something stopped her as she felt two flippers reached out to grab her.

"Amber! Calm down!" a voice called out.

However, as Amber turned her head around to face Kowalski, she screamed loudly. Her screaming slowly faded away as she saw no horrific or creepy or evil look on his face, just his ordinary face with his blue eyes. Blush immediately spread across her face. Her eyes widened and her heart raced as she was now staring into the face of the innocent Kowalski.

"I-I-I-I" she stammered nervously.

"Just relax now," said Kowalski. "I believe you had a nightmare. Am I correct?"

Amber's feathers shivered, her face boiling red. She nodded.

"Care to explain?" asked Kowalski with his notepad already in his flippers with his pencil touching the paper, ready to write down anything.

She couldn't tell him her nightmare. It was just too awful and horrific; just with the part of mentioning him ripping her and his heart out would possibly make him puke. She shook her head.

"Well, it must have been terrible," said Kowalski in a slightly depressed tone, not able to write down anything as he slowly put his notepad and pencil away.

"H-how long was I a-as-asleep for?" she asked.

"Nearly eight hours," replied Kowalski.

"Eight hours?" gasped Amber. "That's… that's long! But… well… worth it."

"Well, we should check that fever of yours," said Kowalski.

"Uh… yeah… s-sure," replied Amber.

And with that, Kowalski pulled out his stethoscope from out of nowhere, put it on and placed the mic against her chest.

"Could you take a deep breath please?" he asked.

Amber nodded and then drew in a deep breath. Her heartbeats came into focus as Kowalski listened carefully. Suddenly, she could feel her heart starting to flutter again. And then, it was pounding. Was it from nervousness or was it just working overtime? Her heartbeats were pounding against Kowalski's ear canals, becoming louder and quicker. After a while, he removed the stethoscope and looked at her.

"Well, it appears your heart rate is high again," he said, still hearing her heartbeats in his mind.

"It… it is?" asked Amber, starting to feel nervous.

Kowalski nodded before something had caught his attention. He stared into her face, or at least that's what it seemed like. Suddenly, he began leaning in, coming closer to Amber's face. Amber noticed and her red face became even redder and her eyes widened. What was he doing?

_Oh, no, is he going to-?_ she thought to herself. _Yes, he is. He's going to kiss me. I just know it. I might as well just-_

But then Kowalski stopped as he reached his flipper out and placed it over her forehead. Immediately, his flipper received an instant message of burning power and immediately yanked it away. Amber's eyes drooped and her blush thickened in embarrassment.

_Oh, wow, Amber,_ she thought. _He was only going to check your forehead._

Kowalski pulled his flipper away, now heated from her forehead.

"Well, it seems your fever is still there," he said. "But it's not as high now."

"R-really?" asked Amber.

Kowalski nodded, "But by judging the redness on your face, it seems high."

Amber's face became even redder, not just from her high fever but from nervousness and because she was around the guy she loved. Boy, what it hot in here or what?

"K-Kowalski," she stuttered his name. "C-can I t-tell you s-s-something?"

As Kowalski was just reaching into his medical bag, searching for something, he looked up to see her boiled, red face. "Yes?" he asked.

Amber gulped. She took in a deep breath and her heart began racing. Was this it? Was she going to tell him how she felt about him? Even in this state?

"K-Kowalski, I… I w-wanted to t-tell you that I… I… I…" she began stammering. Was she able to spit it out? Even through her fever?

"Yes?" said Kowalski, cocking an eyebrow as her face turned redder. Wow, it was getting hot!

"I… I really… I really…"

But as her heart pounded faster and her face became a torch of fire, her eyes rolled back and she once again fainted, falling onto her back in her bunk. Kowalski's eyes widened at the sight but before he could do anything, the others popped down through the hatch and into the base.

"Well, that took a long time to get between those two," began Skipper.

"Julien could at least be nicer to Joey," added Private.

Rico nodded his head in agreement. The three of them then spotted Kowalski over at Amber's bunk where Amber was completely unconscious.

"So, how is she?" asked Skipper immediately.

"Her fever is still there," replied Kowalski. "She woke up just recently but passed out just now." 

"That's good to hear," said Private. "I really hope she gets better soon."

"Yup," said Rico.

_A/N: Hoped you enjoyed! Sorry it seems kinda short but that's what I had. Anyways, will Amber ever recover? Will she ever tell Kowalski her feelings for him? Until then, please review!_


	8. Penguin Picnic In The Park

_A/N: The next chapter is up and running! Last time, Amber had a horrific nightmare and was still under the weather. Will she get better? Enjoy the next chapter!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

CHAPTER EIGHT

PENGUIN PICNIC IN THE PARK

For the next few days, Amber rested as her fever continued. With the help from Kowalski, she was slowly recovering. The penguins had tried their best to prevent Alice from taking her to the zoo veterinarian. Skipper meanwhile was enjoying this time so far as Amber the so-called spy couldn't go around, stealing information or spying on anyone. However, the others were fully aware she wouldn't do that. It was until one day when Amber was fully back to her normal self; her eyes were shining brightly, her eyelids were bright violet again, her breathing was no longer raspy and her face was no longer boiling red. However, her blush continued to appear whenever she was around Kowalski.

That one fine day, the sky was bright blue with fluffy clouds and the sun was illuminating brightly. It was just the perfect day to train. Not only was it a great day for training but also a great day for a picnic in the park. Private, with the help of Amber, had talked Skipper into the idea who seemed to like it.

The penguins were busily waddling their way in the zoo grounds in a single line with Skipper leading them with Rico behind him. Amber was between Kowalski and Private.

"It feels so great to be fully functioning," said Amber as she stretched her flippers out happily.

"Indeed," said Kowalski, waddling behind her. "It's good to see you back in shape."

Amber blushed and giggled lightly. Private looked over and smiled at the two, Amber's crush becoming more obvious.

"Oh, um, thank you Kowalski, for helping me get better" she said.

"It was my pleasure," replied Kowalski.

"Hey, guys!" a voice called out gracefully.

The penguins stopped in their tracks and looked up to see Marlene peeking over the wall surrounding her habitat, smiling at them brightly in the afternoon sun.

"Hey, Marlene!" called back Amber.

Marlene hopped down from the wall above, still smiling brightly. "So watcha guys doin'?" she asked.

"We're going to have a picnic out in the park," answered Private gracefully.

"A picnic? That sounds fun," Marlene wondered.

"Would you like to join us?" asked Amber. "Can she, Skipper?"

"No can do," answered Skipper.

Both girls sighed.

"But why not?" asked Amber.

"Apparently, because Marlene was raised in captivity, she cannot handle the outside world," said Kowalski. "If she was to go outside the zoo walls, she would… go wild."

Once Rico heard that word, he went into a series of fits as he waved his flippers around in the air crazily, letting his tongue hang out loose, causing drool to go everywhere. He grunted and yelled as he continued his fit of demonstration. Marlene rolled her eyes at the sight.

"Can we not bring it up?" she sighed.

Rico stopped and groaned. At least he had enjoyed himself demonstrating her wildness. Amber felt like asking if Marlene really did that but decided to keep it to herself.

"All right, can we just get to the park now?" said Skipper, rolling his eyeballs.

And with that, the penguins waddled past Marlene. Amber waved back to her and called out a "See ya!" along the way. Marlene waved back before climbing back into her habitat.

"So what happened when she went outside the zoo?" asked Amber.

"Well, we took her out for snow cones and well, she acted up and went wild," answered Kowalski. "And kidnapped Julien and well… did things to him."

"What kind of things?" asked Amber.

"Well, she did-" but then Kowalski noticed Skipper glaring at them from the front. Kowalski cleared his throat, "Well, we might just leave it at that."

Some time later, the penguins had successfully snuck out of the zoo and were now walking into the park. Amber gazed at the sight of Central Park; the trees and the grass were perfectly bright green and the breeze of the wind felt so good. She had never seen such a magnificent sight.

"Wow, Central Park is great!" she exclaimed happily.

"It sure is," added Private.

The penguins soon stopped in the middle of the park after finding a perfect spot. Many trees were surrounding the area, casting silhouettes of themselves over the green grass. But wait; neither any of the penguins had brought a single picnic basket with them! Now how were they able to enjoy such a great lunch in the park?

"Um… question," Amber said.

"And that would be?" asked Skipper, looking at her.

"We never brought a picnic basket with us," replied Amber.

Skipper couldn't help but laugh, chuckling as he shook his head. Amber sighed.

"What's so funny?" she said. "It's the truth."

"Oh, Amber," replied Skipper. "We always had one with us. Rico!"

Rico nodded and then, he clenched his fists (if he had any) and within a few seconds, he hacked up a picnic basket right from his stomach! What a perfect way of carrying something! Amber's eyes widened at the sight but noticed there was no saliva all over the basket. Her eye and beak twitched.

"Okay?" she said, almost in disgust.

Rico placed the picnic basket down and then spat out a red and white checker patterned picnic cloth and at least five plates, all landing perfectly on the grass with the cloth landing first, followed along with the plates. Rico smiled happily with his brilliant success before placing the basket in the centre on the cloth.

"Perfetto," said Skipper with his flippers on his hips, smiling.

"I'm just gonna say ew and clever," said Amber, trying hard to hide her disgusted look.

With no time to waste, the penguins sat themselves down on the picnic cloth, prepared for a glorious picnic in the park. Rico opened the basket to reveal at least two tins of sardines and tuna. He spat out a can opener and began opening the cans with hunger. Amber couldn't help but grin; she was sitting out in the clean park of Central Park with the kindest penguins she had ever met, about to have a fabulous picnic with them. And she was about to have a picnic with the guy of her dreams as she looked over at Kowalski and giggled slightly.

"Private, care to do grace?" asked Skipper.

Private nodded and stood up and began his grace, "Thank you Central Park for this glorious day to have a picnic," he looked down at Amber for a second and continued, "And thank you Amber for helping me with the idea of having a picnic."

Amber felt herself turn pink for a second before glancing over at Kowalski, making her turn pinker. Private sat back down as the others clapped gleefully for him. Rico was clapping very loudly and crazily.

"Bravissimo, Private," congratulated Skipper.

And then the penguins dug into their lunch, taking sardines and tuna from the tins, causing the air around them to stink of fish. However, it didn't bother them as they were used to the tangy smell of the sea. Amber tried her best to eat slowly and calmly, not wanting to look like a pig in front of Kowalski while Rico, who had brought salt along, was pouring massive chunks of it all over his plate of fish and was gobbling it up hungrily.

"Amber, I'd just like to say it's good to see you back to normal," said Skipper before swallowing a sardine down.

"Really?" she asked in a somewhat surprised and sarcastic tone.

Skipper shook his head, grinning slightly. Amber softly grumbled, eyeing him.

"Smashing picnic so far, huh?" said Private, trying to bring some happiness into the fishy atmosphere around them.

"Oh yeah, indeed," said Amber, trying to restrain herself from pouncing on Skipper and giving him a piece of her mind. That would definitely embarrass her in front of Kowalski.

Rico, who had now finished his first plate of salt-dressed sardines helped himself to the tin of tuna and began sprinkling it with salt, making sure every bit was covered with at least one grain of salt.

"Nice weather, huh?" said Kowalski, looking up at the fresh sky as clouds were rolling by. The sun was shining brightly in the afternoon, still casting shadows everywhere.

"I agree," said Amber, gazing up at the sky to see a flock of birds flying by. "I wish I could fly," she mumbled.

"You never know when a day like this could come again," said Skipper, placing his flippers behind his head, enjoying the sun's light.

"So, Amber," began Private. "Are you able to tell us about your old zoo? In California?"

Horror struck Amber's face for the first time that day… or within days. She looked at him to see a curious look in his light blue eyes. The very thought of something horrible was appearing in her mind.

"Well?" he asked.

"I… I…" she said. "I'd rather not."

Skipper's almost relaxed look vanished as he removed his flippers from the back of his head and cocked an eyebrow.

"And why not?" he asked.

"Well… I really never liked my old zoo," answered Amber. "Wait; you actually want to know?"

"Couldn't hurt a bit," replied Skipper, shrugging his shoulders a bit.

Amber noticed the four penguins staring at her, waiting for anything to come out of her beak.

"Well, I guess I could tell a bit," she said. "Life at my old zoo was bad. All the penguins treated me badly. They would pick on me for being so smart. Whenever I'd do something related to science, they'd… they'd… they'd…"

"They would what?" asked Kowalski, a hint of worry in his tone. He knew Amber was the smart one back at her old zoo and was picked on the night she told him about it but what was she trying to say?

Amber's eyes began to tear up; she could feel her heart beginning to sink. "They'd… beat me up!" and that was when the tears fell out of her eyes and she was sobbing away, the memory of her past life returning to her mind.

"They'd beat you up for being smart?" asked Skipper.

"That's horrible!" gasped Private.

Amber continued to cry. Kowalski couldn't help but feel so sorry for her. He couldn't just leave an intelligent girl to cry forever. But he always had trouble with emotions, feelings and women. However, he raised his flipper and began patting and rubbing her back gently. Amber slowly stopped as she felt his flipper on her back. She glanced at him to see him smiling right at her. She went pink.

"Don't worry, you're with us now," he said, trying to cheer her up.

"R-really?" she asked, sniffling a bit. Kowalski nodded.

"Well, I'm touched with your story, Amber," said Skipper. "If I ever hear about those penguins, I'll give them a piece of my mind."

"You would?" she asked him. He nodded.

"Kowalski here is a genius and no one beats him up," said Private. "So hopefully that'll never happen to you."

Amber's sobbing slowly stopped as she looked at each of them. She smiled.

"Thanks, guys," she said in relief. "I appreciate your help."

"Glad to help," said Skipper. "Now, should we get back to our picnic?"

For the rest of the afternoon, the penguins continued their picnic as the sun had now changed position in the sky and clouds were still strolling by. The sardine and tuna tins had been devoured but the smell of fish was still lingering about. Amber felt she was suddenly becoming closer and closer to Kowalski; she felt like she was on a date with him. It almost seemed like it was just the two together, no one else. And slowly, it seemed like a daze was coming into place.

"Amber, could I see you behind that tree there?" asked Kowalski, beginning to smirk.

Amber looked at him, noticing his grin. She nodded and got up. Wait, hang on…

"Skipper, you don't mind if I just take Amber over to that tree over there, do you?" asked Kowalski.

"Not at all," replied Skipper.

So then the two penguins left the picnic area and began waddling over to a tree somewhere in the park. Amber was following after Kowalski, beginning to think of what he wanted. Wait; it couldn't be what she was thinking, was it? After a moment, the two were behind the tree, standing in the shade casted by the light shining over the tree.

"Okay, w-what is it?" asked Amber.

Kowalski turned to Amber. His eyes were beginning to droop and his smirk began to broaden.

"Now that we're all alone," he started. "How about we get a little closer, huh?"

Amber's eyes lit up and her beak almost dropped open. What did he just say now?

"A… a l-little c-closer?" she asked.

Kowalski nodded before approaching her a little closer, his expression becoming alluring. What was he doing? Amber was becoming nervous with what he was doing as blush began to spread across her face and her heart began to flutter.

"W-what are you d-d-doing?" she stammered as his face came closer to hers.

"Come on, there's something you haven't told me," replied Kowalski, his voice also becoming alluring.

"L-l-like w-what?"

Kowalski didn't answer but instead closed his eyes and pressed his beak against hers! Now? Immediately, Amber's entire face became red and her heart was throbbing like crazy! But then, her eyes drooped and she let her heart ease as Kowalski kissed deeper, causing Amber to get pressed against the tree. And then, the two dropped to the ground, now proceeding to make out. Was this for real? Really? Could it really be true?

Suddenly, Amber was back at the picnic, sitting right back in her place in a complete daze. She had a goofy smile on her face as a river of drool rushed down her face. That whole thing with her and Kowalski going behind a tree and making out was all just a crazy fantasy!

"You alright there, Amber?" asked Skipper, cocking an eyebrow.

However, Amber didn't answer. She continued to drool as her goofy smile became even goofier. She was in a daze!

"Amber?" said Kowalski as he waved a flipper in front of her dazed and derpy face.

Suddenly, she snapped right out of it and came right back to earth. Her drooling stopped and her grin disappeared. She noticed the penguins all staring at her oddly, either cocking an eyebrow or with a plain expression. She realized it had all just been a crazy fantasy that had appeared right before her very eyes. She suddenly went pink in embarrassment.

"Er… I was… just er… um… just" she stammered in complete embarrassment, rubbing the back of her head.

"Thinking about your favourite foods?" suggested Private.

"Yes! That's the one!" she lied crazily while chuckling like a complete idiot. "Yeah! I was fantasizing about food I like! Like um… fish and chocolate and candy-"

Kowalski's eyes suddenly lit with excitement just from hearing the word "candy" from her mouth. Not only did his eyes shine in delight but so did Private's.

"Too bad we never brought any," said Skipper, folding his flippers, causing the excitement and happiness in Kowalski and Private's eyes to disappear.

As the day began to end, the penguins packed up the picnic gear, forcing it down Rico's throat into his gut. Poor Rico was used to it though. They began making their way back to Central Park Zoo with Skipper leading them back as usual. Amber looked all around her again, sapping in the lovely image of the park. She smiled broadly, happy that she was able to spend a great day in the park with the penguins and her one and true love. She grinned at Kowalski from the back (she was walking behind him) as her mind was filling with dreamy thoughts about him, picturing the two together as a couple. But no doubt that would happen.

_Dear diary,_ she wrote in her diary once they were back in the HQ. _The penguins and I went out to Central Park for a picnic. It was glorious. The sun was out, the trees and grass were perfectly green and the air was great. It was so great to have a picnic with Kowalski. And then, I had a crazy fantasy about him and me kissing under a tree, _she almost squealed as she wrote that down. _It was maybe the greatest day in my life!_

She then closed her purple diary and let out a dreamy sigh. It was as if she was becoming closer and closer to Kowalski. Maybe… just maybe… it was more than a crush…

_A/N: How did it go? I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot. Will Amber ever tell Kowalski her feelings for him? Until next time, please review!_


	9. Thoughts And Seduction?

_A/N: New chapter has arrived! Last time, the penguins and Amber went out for a picnic in Central Park. And Amber is feeling closer to Kowalski. What will happen today?_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUODKU KID.**

**WARNING: THIS CHAPTER HAS BEEN RATED T.**

CHAPTER NINE

THOUGHTS AND SEDUCTION?

Kowalski rolled over and moaned, not able to fall asleep that night. The others were already fast asleep but he couldn't sleep so easily. He seemed to have a lot of thoughts on his mind. There was nothing else better to do but do a little chemistry to calm his distracted mind down. He got out of his bunk and tip-toed his way towards his lab and entered, closing the door behind him quietly.

He began experimenting with all kinds of crazy chemicals as he carefully poured a chemical from a beaker into another, wearing a pair of safety goggles to make sure any chemicals wouldn't infect his eyes. He yawned in rather boredom. He couldn't seem to concentrate on what he was doing. Then, Amber appeared in his mind. He began to think about her; how she looked, how she sounded and how smart she was.

_Amber does seem like a nice and kind girl,_ he thought to himself. _I've never met a more intelligent girl in my life. I just don't understand how she was bullied at her old zoo. She may even be… no. That can't be right. We're just friends. Good friends._

He was only friends with her, right? Just friends. He decided it was time to hit the sack as he yawned before packing up the equipment and putting it all away. He slipped his goggles off and placed them down on the table he was working at and then opened the door and exited the lab.

Suddenly, once he had entered the base, his eyes widened and his beak almost dropped open. Something seemed completely off and not right. In fact, something seemed really wrong! The room was lit with dimly lit candles everywhere, illuminating the room with light. And then, there were scattered rose petals lying all over the floor, leading towards a set of pink cushions and pillows in the middle of the room! Over in the corner, the stereo was playing the sound of jazz music as the room was filtered with the sound of hypnotic saxophone tunes. The room certainly looked romantic and wrong!

Kowalski's beak and eye twitched at the sight of the romantically decorated room in utter shock! Who had done this? Where was the person responsible for this? And how had someone managed to do all this within the time he had been in his lab?

"Oh my stars and garters!" he almost exclaimed. "What the… what is going on?"

He then remembered that the others were sleeping but how could they still be asleep if the room was brightened in candle light? He turned around towards the bunks to see the others weren't there! They weren't in the bunks, fast asleep! Where were they? And then, the door behind him slammed shut with a _SLAM!_ and he could swear he heard it lock on its own!

"Hello, Kowalski," a voice said from out of the blues.

Kowalski knew that voice did not belong to any of the penguins in the team. It sounded too high and too feminine. Suddenly, he remembered there was a female penguin with them. He slowly turned around to find Amber standing next to the ladder. She had her flippers together whilst a bit of blush was on her face.

"Amber!" he nearly gasped.

"Why do you sound and looked so frightened?" asked Amber. "Are you okay?

"W-what's going in here? W-where are the others?" Kowalski asked, almost girlishly.

"Hmmm, I dunno," answered Amber, shrugging her shoulders.

"But… but they were all just here, sleeping and-"

"Well, maybe they went out for a night stroll," suggested Amber.

"A night stroll?" asked Kowalski.

"Maybe," replied Amber, looking away before having the courage to look back at him. "And, well, I decided to decorate the room like this."

Kowalski's beak almost swung open. "Y-you did all this?"

"That's right," she said and then she began to approach him slowly, her face lighting up in the candle light and it seemed as if her blush had been erased by the light.

"B-but why?" asked Kowalski as she came close to his face.

"Well, let's just say I _love_ romance," replied Amber. "And I was thinking maybe now that the others are gone, we could have a little… fun."

"Fun?" Kowalski said as his eyes lit up. What did she mean by "fun"?

Amber's beak turned into a grin and then, she lifted her flippers and pushed Kowalski with all her energy, causing him to fall backwards onto the pillows and cushions, cushioning the force of the push. The pillows felt soft and cosy but why did she push him for? Wait; hang on. Amber then got down and placed her body right over Kowalski's so that she was now lying right on top of him! Oh, no! She wasn't thinking of that! Kowalski's pupils shrank to the size of pencil dots and his beak dropped open!

"Amber, what are you doing?" he exclaimed loudly.

"This is the kind of fun I was talking about," she said, her grin turning into a seductive smile.

No way. "You mean?"

"Yes," replied Amber as her eyes drooped. "Now let's do this."

And then the right answer came to his mind! It was seduction! She couldn't be! She couldn't be seducing him!

"Amber! Get off of me!" he squealed girlishly.

"Sorry, but I can't do that," said Amber, leaning her face in.

"Amber, get off of me right now!"

"And I say no,"

"Amber, I mean it, get off-"

_SMACK!_ He had just been smacked by Amber across the face! Her eyes were now flaming with anger and her beak had turned into a vicious frown.

"We're going to do this whether you like it or not, do I make myself clear?" she hissed. Kowalski didn't answer but quivered in fear. He nodded his head slowly, knowing he would have to go through with everything. The anger in Amber's eyes suddenly changed to lust and her beak returned to her seductive smile. "I think I just did."

And then she pinned him down against the cushions and pillows, making sure he wouldn't escape from her clutches. She then leaned in and began smooching his cheeks before her beak travelled up his face towards his forehead and gave it a long kiss. Kowalski's face immediately turned red. He couldn't be blushing, right?

"Amber, please stop this," Kowalski whimpered in a tiny voice.

She pulled her face away to see to see his scarlet-brightened face. She giggled playfully.

"You're blushing," she said.

It was now time for her second move as she ran a flipper down his chest, making her coo at the feeling. To make it worse, she placed her other flipper on his chest, now rubbing both flippers against his feathery chest. She moaned loudly while Kowalski could feel his heart was beginning to flutter in nervousness. Slowly, Amber ran a flipper down his side… down his waist… down to his butt! Kowalski's eyes popped open as she began to rub his butt before she spanked it!

"AHHHH!" Kowalski screamed like a little girl.

Amber almost jumped in surprise but pulled her flippers away and smiled.

"No need to be so scared," she said. "Just relax."

But how was he supposed to relax when she was lying right on top of him? Or how was he supposed to relax when she was doing things to him? How? But then his thoughts were cut off when Amber sat herself on his chest and pulled up a flipper and brought it close to her beak. Oh, no. What was she doing now? She began licking it with her tongue erotically, causing Kowalski to mumble in fear. He tried pulling his flipper away from the seductive Amber but she seemed to have a good grip on it. He could hear a light growl come from her mouth as her grip tightened. After licking his flipper for what seemed to be hours, she pulled his now saliva-stained flipper out of her mouth and placed it against her chest and took in a long, deep breath. Her heart began to throb against her chest, not nervously but hungrily.

"Feel that?" she asked hungrily. "That's my heart. And it's beating only for you."

She then dropped his flipper as if she had had enough fun with it. She grinned before she placed one of her flippers against his chest. Already, she could feel his nervous heart beating nervously. She noticed his body was trembling in fear. She could literally see the fear growing in his blue eyes.

"There's no need to be so scared," she whispered. "I'm here with you."

Kowalski could not take it anymore. He couldn't take anymore of this mysterious, alluring Amber. He had to get away from all this. He managed to find his flippers at his control again and with all his might left in his body, he heaved them up and attempted to shove Amber off of him… but no use… she was attached to him like a magnet had been attracted to metal.

"Why are you trying to push me off?" Amber asked.

"Because… I… I can't take it," replied Kowalski, now trying to push her off with his feet… still no use. "I… I can't stand the fact that you're… you're on top… on top of me."

He shouldn't have said that. Amber sat up as her hungry smile transformed back into an angry frown and her eyes changed from lust to anger.

"You're being a baby, you know that?" she sighed angrily.

"W-what?" Kowalski asked.

"Didn't you hear me? You're being a baby," Amber repeated herself. "Nothing but a scared, little baby."

"Amber, I said I didn't want-"

_SMACK!_ Amber smacked him across the face again but even harder! She hissed viciously like a poisonous snake as her grip on him tightened and her body heated violently.

"Man up, soldier!" she shouted.

And then, she slapped him across the face again, trying to knock some sense into him. However, it didn't take long for her to regain her seductive smile and her lust-lit eyes. This time, her smile looked a little creepy-looking! Kowalski gulped.

She then leaned in close to his ear hole and whispered seductively, "Now here comes the _best_ part."

The best part? Oh, no. It couldn't be. What could it be? Amber stared into the frightened penguin's face and began licking her beak hungrily as if she was about to eat him up in one go! And then, she closed her eyes and puckered and began to lean in. Oh, no! It was going to be a kiss! She was going to give Kowalski the most passionate yet horrifying kiss he would ever receive!

Kowalski's pulse raced and his heart began pounding against his chest, slowly… slowly… quicker… faster! And then it sounded as if his heartbeats were bouncing off the walls in the base, echoing loudly. And he had to keep them quiet from Amber hearing them! As Amber came closer and closer, ready to kiss him passionately, his throbbing heartbeats became even louder, even louder than the jazzy music playing on the stereo!

Suddenly, it seemed as if the room had gotten brighter and the smell of smoke began to linger in the air. He looked at all sides to see there were flames bursting all over the place from the candles! This had to end! Why was he in this mess? Why was Amber being so seductive and vicious? Did Amber really have a seductive side? What the heck was going on? And then, the whole room suddenly became blurry and his heartbeats rang right through his ears (if he had any).

"No! No! NOOOO!" he screamed.

"Kowalski!"

"NO!"

"Kowalski! Wake up!"

Kowalski shot up in his bunk, screaming his heart out in fear like a little girl as he waved his flippers about. Suddenly, a flipper reached out and smacked him right across the face with a _SMACK!_ Kowalski's eyes popped open and immediately, he found himself back in his bunk, no longer on a set of pillows and cushions on the floor, no longer surrounded by candles and scattered rose petals. He turned around to see the team, including Amber, crowded around his bunk.

"What- where- what's… what's going on?" he asked, his body full of adrenaline.

"You were screaming like a mad man," said Skipper. "And you woke me up from a perfect dream where I was slapping every hippie in sight.

"It sounded like you were having a nightmare," said Private.

"A nightmare?" wondered Kowalski, going over his thoughts. Indeed, it had all been a crazy nightmare… a seductive nightmare.

"Uh-huh," said Rico.

"Are y-you okay, K-Kowalski?" asked Amber, reaching a flipper out.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" screamed Kowalski, smacking her flipper away at the sound of her voice.

The team nearly gasped. Amber held her smacked flipper; already she could feel pain in it.

"I'm… sorry…" she said, nearly on the verge of tears.

"What did you just do?" Private beamed at Kowalski before placing a flipper on Amber's back and rubbing it.

Kowalski's face changed from stiff-scared to sadness. What had he just done?

"No, I-I'm sorry, A-Amber," he said. "I just thought, well, you could have been-"

"Been a what?" asked Private.

"Okay, explain to us what your nightmare was about," moaned Skipper sleepily.

Kowalski looked at all of them, each of them waiting for an answer. What was he supposed to say? He couldn't tell them about Amber being a vicious, seductive penguin. It would scare the living daylights out of her. It was just too freaky and seductive to even mention. Private was too young to know about seduction, Rico would possibly puke out everything in his gut and Skipper would literally kick Amber out of the penguin habitat, completely suspecting her of an alluring spy. What could Kowalski say? _Amber seduced me_ was the only answer he had in his mind. But he couldn't tell them that. Wait; he could tell them a lie.

"It was… it was about… the dentist," he lied.

"The dentist?" asked Amber. Skipper almost asked the same question.

"But we don't have teeth," said Private, wondering why he would have had a nightmare about the dentist.

"Apparently, zoo animals, like us, need oral checkups in our mouths," answered Amber.

"Ohhh," said Private.

"It was so horrible!" moaned Kowalski, nearly about to cry.

"I-it must have been," said Amber. "I feel s-so sorry for y-you."

Kowalski tried hard to not look at her. However, he knew that was the _real_ Amber standing there, right? Not one look of lust lingered in her hazel-brown eyes but worry.

"Th-thank you, Amber," said Kowalski.

"All right, now that we've all heard about the nightmare, can we all get back to sleep?" moaned Skipper. "I'd really love to get back to dreaming about slapping hippies."

So then they all got back into their bunks and had all now fallen asleep late that night, snoozing peacefully. However, Kowalski lay awake, staring up at the ceiling of his bunk. He couldn't stop thinking about that horrific and alluring. Why did he have such a crazy nightmare? Why would he ever dream about a seductive Amber? Why had she appeared in his nightmare or his own fantasies? He couldn't possibly be falling for her! Could he?

_A/N: Could it be true? Sorry this chapter sounded pervy. I'm all pervy about Kowalski but I don't think Amber would do anything like that to Kowalski. Anyways, why did Kowalski have a pervy dream about Amber? Find out next time! Until then, please review!_


	10. A Life Changing Fall

_A/N: Ugh, I haven't been updating for ages! Last time in the fanfic, Kowalski had a horrifying nightmare about a seductive Amber. Don't worry; this chapter won't have any of that creepy stuff in it. Enjoy!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

CHAPTER TEN

A LIFE-CHANGING FALL

Kowalski awoke the next morning after a harsh night of sleep. He mumbled sleepily as he sat up. Instantly, the nightmare was the first thing to come to his mind; from the candles to the rose petals to the cushions, followed with the push and the pinning and the smooching. Then it was from the flipper-sucking to the cheek-slapping to the heart-throbbing. To finish it off, the horrifying kiss he hadn't met. What had caused him to have such a messed-up and wrong fantasy about a seductive Amber? He was only friends with Amber, right? They weren't a pair, were they? No, no, no.

It even bothered him during that bright and fine morning. The penguins, along with Amber, were all on top of the platform, ready for another performance to give to the crowds who were gathering around the penguin habitat. A fine morning was best to start off with a taste of adorableness and the penguins were ready to serve the crowds a large plate of adorableness.

Amber's eyes were burning with excitement, prepared for another performance with the penguins, especially with Kowalski. She was ready to wiggle her hips, ready to shake her booty, ready to just grab hold of Kowalski and kiss him on the beak. Wait; what? What was she thinking? Kowalski meanwhile was not paying attention to the crowds but was busy drifting off into space, not taking one look at Amber. However, he knew that that was the _real_ Amber, right? It wasn't some freakish, lust-loving penguin, was it?

"Kowalski," said Amber, noticing the drifted look in his blue eyes. "You don't look okay this morning. Did you have a rough night sleep?"

Kowalski snapped right out of space back to earth as he shifted his eyes towards Amber to see her worried face, noticing her trademark blush on her cheeks.

"Yes, yes I did," he said. "That nightmare… was like no other nightmare…"

Amber frowned. She hated to see Kowalski look so miserable and almost frightened-looking first thing in the morning.

"You… you poor thing," she said in an attempt to make him feel better. "That nightmare must have been really terrible."

But did she really know how _terrible_ it was? Kowalski was glad enough he hadn't told her the actual nightmare of her being a sick, seductive and vicious penguin. She could never be such a thing, could she?

"I… appreciate what you just said," replied Kowalski, starting to blush a little.

Amber's cheeks burnt up as she looked down, "It was nothing…"

And then Skipper's voice sounded aloud, "Well now, let's not just stand here. Let's give this crowd what they came here for!"

And off the penguins went, ready for cute and cuddly action. Private, as always, was being the cuddly and adorable star you would just want to pick up and hug as he put his flippers together, battered his eyes and puckered to the crowds. Skipper meanwhile was sliding back and forth on his belly, giving off feminine looks as he giggled and battered his eyes like a naïve schoolgirl.

"AWWW," went the crowds loudly and cheerfully.

As Kowalski was about to serve the crowds a side dish of his adorable side, he noticed Amber wiggling her hips just like she had done the other day. However, there was something different with how she swished her hips he hadn't noticed until now. He couldn't remove his eyes off her hips; they were fully fixed on them, for the first time taking in how she moved. It was like examining a robot, only this time, it was with a girl.

"Whoa, mama…" he mumbled.

The corner of Amber's eye caught the tall penguin staring at her and she immediately stopped her little dance. She became red in the face and her heart fluttered in embarrassment. Kowalski's face became identical to hers.

"Uh…I was just- just seeing- just if you-" Kowalski stammered.

"Oh… it's, uh, okay," replied Amber, continuing to redden up.

Just then, Rico, who was imitating the moonwalk and smiling at the crowds coolly, was shuffling in Amber's direction. Without looking, his back pressed against Amber's, knocking her off her balance and causing her to tumble away… straight into Kowalski's direction! And then they both collided and fell to the ground with a _THUD!_ With Amber right on top of Kowalski! And Kowalski under her! The two were now staring into each other's face, beginning to turn red.

_I-I'm on top of… Kowalski,_ Amber thought to herself.

_A-Amber's on top of… me,_ Kowalski thought to himself. _No, it's just like in the nightmare…_

The crowds around the penguin habitat gasped at the sight before melting in glee, chanting their signature "Awwws" at the two as if they were about to mate. The two penguins turned their heads to the crowds to see their awe-struck faces. And then, the show ended with the crowds bursting into roars of cheers and tossing fish at the penguins happily and soon began parting away. Amber stared back into Kowalski's face before removing her body off of his, leaving him flat against the concrete platform, his face bursting with blush. His heart was fluttering, only this time; it was a different sort of flutter, maybe like the one he had experienced in his nightmare. Only this time, it was for real.

* * *

Kowalski strode through the zoo grounds, over thinking his new thoughts about Amber on his mind, including both the freakish nightmare he felt like vomiting into a bucket about and the day she fell on top of him. Boy, it sure did remind him of the nightmare but what could it be? Could it be a message?

_Why am I suddenly thinking about Amber all of a sudden?_ he asked himself. _She is really intelligent but why would she show up in a made-up fantasy of mine?_

Suddenly, he noticed various zoo animals outside their habitats, gathered together as if there was a crime scene, muttering to each other. Kowalski, concerned, waddled up to the sight, shoving through all the animals to find Amber down on the ground on one knee (if she had one). She had a magnifying glass clutched in her flipper with her sketch pad lying on the ground beside her. What was going on?

"Amber, what has just happened?" he asked.

Amber turned her head around to find Kowalski standing there. She felt herself blush.

"Oh… I… uh…" she tried to spit out the words.

"She's discovered a rare flower," said Mason.

"No one's seen it before," piped Private.

"Isn't it amazing?" wondered Marlene.

"A rare flower?" questioned Kowalski.

"Well… I was walking by, wanting to sketch something and found this flower," replied Amber.

The flower was highly tall, at least a few inches from the ground with purple petals and a smell that no one could judge. It swayed to the side with the breeze with the sunlight casting a luminous shadow. Already, Amber was sketching the flower into her sketch pad.

"I've never seen such a flower before in my life," said Kowalski, gazing at the flower.

"I heard it was named raromorado," said Amber, looking up from her sketch pad. "Raro means rare in Spanish and morado means purple in Spanish so it translates to rare purple."

"Oooooh," muttered Rico, fascinated.

"Its smell has been known to cure colds, even if one has a blocked nose," continued Amber. "And its petals have been used in medicines too, which could explain why it's such a rare flower."

Skipper, who was around, scoffed, "Not bad for a female. But you have a whole lot more to learn if you want to take Kowalski's place."

Amber growled lightly, giving Skipper a cold glare. Kowalski looked at Amber in impression with her discovery and her intelligence in a rare plant. He couldn't help but bring out a little smile. However, he felt a feeling of jealousy he did not discover the flower. He frowned.

"What's wrong, Kowalski?" asked Amber after noticing his frown.

Kowalski looked at her, feeling himself blush.

"W-well… it's… uh," he started.

"Kowalski's used to discovering things," sighed Skipper. "Might wanna be careful of that."

Amber nodded before going back to sketching the rare Spanish-named flower. Kowalski walked away, still feeling a sting of jealousy and impression.

_You could have used that plant to impress her,_ a voice said deep down in Kowalski's body. Kowalski stopped in his tracks and looked around but no one was there.

* * *

Kowalski had just finished attaching a coat hanger to a small video game-like device, complete with a screen showing numbers from zero to one-hundred and a few buttons. He smiled in satisfaction and held up his latest creation.

"Ah! Finally completed!" he exclaimed proudly.

Just then, Amber waddled up to him shyly to see what he had just completed.

"H-hello, K-Kowalski," she greeted.

Kowalski pulled his device down to see Amber standing there with her trademark blush marks and her hazel-brown eyes.

"Oh… h-hello there, A-Amber," he replied back.

"What is that there?" asked Amber, pointing to the device in his flippers before scanning the area, "If you're allowed to tell me."

"This here? This here is my new invention and I call it the Mood Teller."

"Mood Teller?

"It does what the name implies," Kowalski explained. "It can detect someone's feelings or emotions or what type of mood the object is in."

"Ooooh," Amber said in fascination.

Kowalski placed the device down on the table and picked up his trademark clipboard, studying it carefully.

"Though I have no idea how feelings and emotions work," he said. "Which is why I created this device." He then placed his clipboard down and picked up the Mood Teller and looked at Amber, suddenly seeing a different image in her face. He turned slightly red and asked, "M-may I test my invention out on y-you?"

Amber also turned red. The guy of her dreams was asking her if he could test something out of her. Wait; what if he found out her true feelings for him? What if he found out she was in love with him? Seeing the determined look on his face, she nodded her head.

"All right, just going to switch it on," and so Kowalski switched the device on via a small lever on the side and a humming sound started up. He then held the device close to Amber and suddenly, a meter on the screen popped up and began rising, already on twenty percent. A series of electric waves emitted from the coat hanger and were travelling into the device. "It appears to be working, it seems as if you have some strong emotions or happy feelings," said Kowalski.

Amber began to blush and her heart beat in a rhythm. She looked down. Kowalski took his eyes away from the screen to see Amber's expression for a second. Wait; he never did for a second. Instead of watching the screen again, he began to take in Amber's facial features, right from her hazel-brown eyes to her bright orange beak. Without knowing, more electric waves emitted from the coat hanger, going into the device and the meter rose higher, at least on fifty percent.

_I never would have figured how enticing her face is, _Kowalski thought to himself. _It's_ _so… it's so… so enticing… and charming… and maybe even… wait; what am I thinking?_

Suddenly, the meter rose even higher, now on eighty percent. The rhythm in Amber's heart continued while Kowalski continued to study Amber's face, taking in more of her features. His eyes began to widen just by looking at her. But why couldn't he take her eyes off her?

Suddenly, the coat hanger caught fire due to the amount of electrical charges and then _BOOM!_ the whole device sparked up and exploded! Amber screamed and fell over in surprise! Well, at least it was a little explosion but the device was frying up like meat in a fry pan!

"Good golly wolly!" exclaimed Kowalski, holding the flaming device away.

Amber, in shock, slowly got up off the ground with a face covered in soot! Kowalski dropped the flaming device and covered his beak with his flippers in surprise! What had he just done?

"A-Amber, I am so sorry!" he exclaimed. "I-I didn't mean to do that to you!"

Amber coughed and a cloud of soot came out of her beak. She rubbed her face and eyes a bit.

"I-it's okay. C-can I have a towel or something please?" she asked.

Kowalski nodded nervously but before he could get the towel requested, he had to deal with the burnt up device on the ground as it continued to burn in a flame.

_Way to go, Kowalski,_ the same voice he had heard the other day said inside him. _A perfect device blew up in front of a girl. How typical._

* * *

Daily training sessions were taking place on top of the platform under the sun. The penguins were punching and kicking the air as Skipper had ordered them to. Kowalski kicked and punched weakly, his mind flooded with thoughts about Amber. He couldn't stop thinking about her, not for a brief second he couldn't. It was as if a dam within him had just burst as he computed everything that had happened over the past few days.

He was still frightened about the nightmare, still wondering what it meant. He felt embarrassed about the day Amber fell on top of him and how their beaks almost met. If he had found that rare flower, he would have used it to impress Amber. Wait; what? And only if his new invention able to read emotions and feelings hadn't blown up in her face, he wouldn't have felt so bad. However, he couldn't help but smile a goofy smile.

_Amber…_ he thought, almost dreamily, in his head. _She's so-_

"Kowalski, would you mind focusing please?" Skipper's voice came and shot Kowalski out of his thoughts. Kowalski looked at his leader to see the annoyed look his cocked eyebrow contained.

"Sorry, Skipper," sighed Kowalski. "I can't seem to keep my head straight. For the past week, I can't stop thinking about-"

"You needa get that nightmare over with. It was only a nightmare, wasn't it?" sighed Skipper. "And you needa get all those other problems outta that mind of yours. I don't want one of my men being distracted."

"You seem really distracted lately, Kowalski," said Private. "Are you sure everything's okay?"

Kowalski looked at each of the penguins to see their expressions. Skipper now had his flippers on his hips, still cocking an eyebrow. Private had a worried-like look. Rico simply had his tongue hanging out loosely as though he wasn't too sure what to say.

Kowalski sighed, "That nightmare was like no other nightmare. Infact, it was, well, maybe I can't stop thinking about-"

But Skipper was too quick and butted in, "Alright, I'll give you some slack. Why don't you take a break from training, get something to eat, clear your mind. And go check on that Amber for me. I don't trust her being in that base all alone by herself."

"A-A-Amber?" Kowalski blurted nervously.

"Duh," mumbled Rico, rolling his eyeballs.

"Duh is right," said Skipper. "Now go unless you wanna continue training."

Kowalski sighed in relief and nodded his head and did as his leader suggested and waddled over to the fish bowl. He lifted it up and hopped down through the hatch with the fish bowl back in place.

"Something ain't right with him lately," said Skipper, looking back at the fish bowl covering the entrance Kowalski had entered through.

"I think I know what it could be," Private smirked, trying not to giggle.

"Uhhh," mumbled Rico, not too sure what the young penguin was thinking.

In the HQ, Kowalski finished climbing down the ladder and hopped down but before he could take another step, he found Amber sitting quietly at the table, drawing peacefully into her sketch pad. She did not seem to notice his presence.

Kowalski's eyes widened and his beak dropped open a little as he stared at her, absorbing all of her image; her lovely, pretty image. And then, deep down in his chest, his heart began to beat, going _bom-bom, bom-bom, bom-bom _and it seemed as if his heartbeats were booming to the ticking of the clock. Kowalski continued to take in all of Amber's appearance, right from her hazel brown eyes to her bright orange beak. And then his eyes marvelled down to her chest and then down to her hips. It seemed as if everything that had happened in the past had just been put aside, all just by staring at Amber.

Suddenly, his heart began to pick up the pace, going slightly faster but also keeping up with the clock's tick tocks. It sounded as if the two noises were uniting and echoing about in the room. It sounded as if he could hear his very own heartbeats sounding aloud. Amber still didn't notice Kowalski standing there, staring right at her.

_Why is my heart suddenly beating like this?_ Kowalski unknowingly asked himself. _It's never felt so intense before. It's never been so fast before. It's never been this loud before. And why can't I stop staring at her?_

Just by mentioning Amber without even saying her name, his heart began to throb, going _BO-BOM! BO-BOM! BO-BOM_! faster and louder! Kowalski couldn't take it anymore! He couldn't stand the drumming in his chest or the booming of his heart or the ticking of the clock! He heaved his flippers up and covered his ear holes and bumped back into the wall but the sound still came through! His heart had never throbbed so violently or loudly! It had only ever happened in his nightmare!

"Oh, it's the beating of the heart!" he exclaimed loudly and nearly girlishly.

Amber looked up from her sketch pad to see Kowalski pressed against the wall, covering the sides of his head. Instead of her face becoming her signature red of embarrassment, she was concerned with Kowalski's expression. What was he doing?

"K-Kowalski, h-how long have y-you been there f-for?" she asked.

Her sweet and innocent voice was powerful enough to get through Kowalski's flippers and then it seemed as if the pounding heartbeats had been stopped by her voice. Kowalski removed his flippers away from his ear holes and opened his eyes slowly to see Amber now in front of him, showing concern in her hazel-brown eyes. His flippers dropped to his sides and his beak swung open. What was he supposed to say?

"A-A-Amber," he stuttered.

"A-are you okay?" Amber asked closely.

Kowalski struggled to say anything. He was too focused on Amber's face close to his, her pretty, enticing and cute face. His body tensed up and his face became red. He pressed himself against the wall and his heart fluttered. Amber approached him a little closer.

"A-Amber, I-I was- just was- checking- if you-" he blabbered like an idiot in front of her.

"Wha?" she cocked an eyebrow.

Kowalski's heart fluttered even faster in a rhythm; he could feel his own blood rushing through every vein in his body. He gulped, feeling a surge of nervousness flooding inside his body. He couldn't help but feel a rush of feelings and emotions flowing within his blood. He couldn't speak. And then, he felt his feet move and next thing, he dashed off straight past Amber, screaming like a little girl and ran straight into his lab, slamming the door behind him with a _SLAM! _What had just happened?

"Kowalski?" Amber wondered aloud. "What's wrong?"

_A/N: Yeah, that's it for today! Why is Kowalski feeling so odd and mushy around Amber? Will Kowalski ever figure out what's going on with him? The sudoku kid and I made up the Raromorado flower btw. Until next time, please review!_


	11. A Broken Heart and a New Friend?

_A/N: Oh, my god, I haven't updated for so long! I'm such a lazy bum! Anyways, I eventually got around to typing up chapter eleven! Last time, Kowalski wasn't feeling normal and was feeling odd around Amber. He's not falling for her, is he? Find out today!_

**PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

Chapter Eleven: A Broken Heart and a New Friend?

At least ten minutes had passed since Kowalski had locked himself in his lab, hiding away from Amber, feeling so mushy and jiggly around her. He felt he had calmed down, maybe a little. His heart had settled down but he still felt its fluttering rhythm. Everything that was on his mind at the moment was Amber, just Amber, nothing else. He could literally see her body in front of him. He could just see her hazel-brown eyes sparkling away and hear her giggly giggles. They were not like any other giggles he had ever heard. So soft, so light, so… cute? Kowalski's eyes widened. What was he thinking? He couldn't possibly think her giggles were soft and light and cute, could he?

_Get a hold of yourself, Kowalski. You're losing it. You can't possibly be… falling for her?_ Kowalski asked himself deeply in his distracted mind.

"K-Kowalski, a-are you okay in there?" Amber's voice came behind the metal door. "I-I'm sorry if I did anything wrong."

_You can't let yourself fall for someone, _Kowalski continued to ask himself, ignoring Amber's voice._ Even if she does have an interest in science, you just can't be in love._

But him and Amber had so much in common. They both loved science deeply, right from chemistry to biology to physics. It was like their little escape from reality. Amber was not like any other girl Kowalski had met in his life. Amber was different compared to every other girl. She wasn't a girl who was into make-up or gossiping about the latest fashion or skimming through women magazines. She was a girl who had a passion in science. She could balance a chemical equation in a heartbeat. She could memorize the periodic table from Hydrogen to Magnesium. She could understand how photosynthesis worked.

Kowalski reached behind him, pulling out his notepad. He flipped through the papers to see countless drawings of Amber he had… done? And quotes about… her? And then he went over every moment they had spent together, right from the night they communicated with each other fully. And then the day he had fallen on top of her. And then when he volunteered to take care of her fever. And then when they spent the day in the park with the other penguins. But then, the nightmare… that nightmare… that sick and scary nightmare. Was it all thanks to the nightmare? Was the nightmare the cause of his new found love? Even if Amber did do unspeakable things to him within the nightmare, was the nightmare the reason he found himself falling for her? Or perhaps it triggered his unknown feelings?

Kowalski sighed. _It's official. I've… I've… fallen in love with… Amber. I can't deny it no more. I'm in love with Amber._

"K-Kowalski, pl-please do answer me," Amber's voice came again. "I-if I did anything wrong, please tell me."

Kowalski knew he couldn't stay locked inside his lab forever. He knew he had to come out sooner or later. He knew he shouldn't hide from Amber. About now would be a good time to come out. He stood up like the man he was and drew in a deep breath and exhaled. He turned around and unlocked the metal lab door and opened it. But then, before him was Amber with a worried look and her trademark blush-lit cheeks. His eyes were now completely fixed on Amber.

"Oh, y-you're finally out," sighed Amber. "D-did I do something wrong? I mean, y-you did look a little freaked out when y-you s-saw me. I-is everything okay?"

That sudden beat entered Kowalski's body yet again. Kowalski's heart was already beginning to beat, just by staring into Amber's face. Every thought of Amber came back. Already, he was imagining roses growing behind her and her face sparkling like she had just splashed mineral water into her face.

"Kowalski?" Amber asked, noticing his expression.

Kowalski couldn't move. He just could not move. His feet were stuck to the spot. But he felt the urge to just run back into his lab. However, a whole new feeling came in. His body became weak and then, he fainted as his body fell back, collapsing to the ground unconsciously with a _THUD!_

"Kowalski?" Amber asked again.

She heard something. She looked over towards the hatch to see the others sliding down the ladder. Their training must have been over. Perfect timing.

"Men, I'd like to congratulate you all on your training today," said Skipper. "You've all really improved and-"

"What's Kowalski doing lying on the ground?" said Private.

Skipper had already noticed Kowalski lying on the ground unconsciously. How had he gotten there? Skipper's eyes moved from Kowalski to Amber who was standing before the unconscious penguin. Had she done something to the poor unconscious Kowalski?

"What?" asked Amber.

"Alright, what have you done to him this time?" Skipper snarled.

Amber was shocked. What did she do? She did nothing, right?

"I-I didn't do anything. K-Kowalski came in here and then he ran into his lab and locked himself in there for I don't know how long, maybe ten minutes. And then he came out just a minute ago and… passed out."

Was Skipper able to buy everything she just said? Was her story real?

Skipper sighed, "Rico, get him to his bunk."

Rico nodded and grunted and then picked up Kowalski and carried his unconscious body to his bunk. Skipper gave Amber a glare as though she was the culprit of a crime scene. She frowned. She wasn't sure why Kowalski had passed out before her.

"I-I'm really sorry," said Amber, trying to make everything all right. "I-I don't know what came over him. He just-"

"Oh, so now you're apologizing?" said Skipper. "You know, ever since those couple of nights ago, Kowalski has been acting extraordinarily strange around you. He hasn't been able to come up with options whenever we were on a mission and he had to cut his training today because he just can't focus. And I blame you."

"M-me? B-but w-why me? I-I didn't do anything!"

"Sure you didn't," said Skipper.

Amber finally growled, "You know what? Ever since I came here, you've been all paranoid about me like I'm gonna do something bad like blow up the zoo! I could never do something so horrible! Remember when I told you about those penguins who bullied me at my old zoo?"

"Perhaps you're lying, then?" Skipper smirked.

"I'm not lying!" squealed Amber. "You know, I give up."

She frowned. Private wanted to say something but he couldn't. Amber stared down at the ground and made her way over to the ladder, frowning.

"Where do you think you're going?" asked Skipper.

"I… I wanna have some alone time," said Amber. "I just wanna clear my mind. I don't deserve to be around Kowalski if he thinks I'm a freak."

And then, without another word, she climbed her way up the ladder and made her way out through the hatch. Again, Private wanted to say something but he couldn't. He stared after the ladder. He wanted to go after her. He raised a foot but Skipper stopped him going any further.

"No, Private," said Skipper. "Leave her."

"But, don't you think you were being a little too harsh on her?" replied Private.

"She deserved it," answered Skipper. "Kowalski hasn't been Kowalski since that night he had that nightmare. Or at least he's been acting a little… odd."

"That nightmare about the dentist?" replied Private.

Rico nodded, "Yup."

Private sighed. "I guess I have to agree. He hasn't been himself lately." But then the right guess was slowly appearing in his mind. However, it was still blurred. "You don't think maybe Kowalski's… nevermind."

"What was that, Private?" asked Skipper.

"Maybe Kowalski's just… disturbed?" Private said, hiding his guess.

Rico face palmed. Same did Skipper.

* * *

Amber sniffled and sobbed, trudging through the zoo grounds, not caring if Alice would find her and cage her and take her away to the animal care. Or if a human would walk pass. She felt so broken hearted. Was it true that maybe Kowalski did think she was a… freak? Oh, what was going on? She was completely blinded by the fact that Kowalski did not think she was a freak but he was only… in love with her…

_Everything's gone topsy turvy. Coming here didn't make me any happier. I don't deserve to be here, _she thought in sorrow. _Kowalski thinks I'm a freak. Nothing but a freak._

She found a nearby bench with no life form sitting on it. She sighed and then heaved herself up onto the bench and sat herself down. She sobbed and sobbed as tears forced their way out of her eyes. Already, she could feel the surge of depression falling over her. Would she ever be happy again?

"Hey, hey, pretty lady!" a voice called out.

Amber's head shot up. She looked around, scanning for the source of where that voice came from. She certainly knew that voice did not belong to any of the penguins but she knew for a fact that she had heard it before.

_I wonder who said that,_ she asked herself.

"Hey, pretty lady! Up here!" the voice called again.

Amber looked up above her to find King Julien hanging upside down from the edge of the fence that was located behind the bench. He looked as cheerful but annoying as ever.

"Oh, it's only you," said Amber.

"Well, of course it is me!" said King Julien.

"What are you doing up there?"

"Oh, you know, just hanging around."

"I can see that."

King Julien laughed lightly before hopping down onto the bench beside her. He looked down at her curiously.

"Have you been crying the tearity-tears?" he asked.

"N-no, why would I cry?" she asked, wiping her eyes.

"You were just crying a minute ago, weren't you?" asked King Julien. "And you're wiping your eyes."

Amber knew she couldn't lie. And of course he would have seen her crying. There was no need to act tough.

"Yes, I was crying. You got me." She sighed.

"Well, don't be worrying, I'm here to make you happy," said King Julien.

"N-not to be mean or anything but we haven't even actually met before," said Amber.

"Oh, how silly of me!" said King Julien before kneeling down and taking her flipper. "I am your kingly king of the zoo. I am none other than King Julien or you can call me Julien or your royal king." And then, he gave her flipper a gentle kiss.

Amber blushed, "W-well then, I-I'm Amber."

"Amber, eh? What a prettyful name," said King Julien, standing back up.

"Prettyful?" asked Amber. "That's not really a word I agree with."

"Oh, sure, it's a word," said King Julien. "So, how did a female penguin like you be ending up here?"

"Huh? Oh, I was transferred from a zoo in California. I'm guessing you're from Madagascar since you're a ringtail lemur, right?"

King Julien gasped gleefully, "How are you knowing where I am from? Are you psychic?"

Amber blushed again, "W-well, the penguins told me about you. And they say you're… annoying…"

King Julien chuckled, "Me annoying? Don't be listening to them, silly penguin."

Amber chuckled lightly. She wasn't sure if he really was annoying or if he seemed like an okay guy. She smiled.

"So, would you like to be seeing my kingly kingdom?" King Julien asked.

"Kingdom?" Amber asked as naïve as ever.

"Well, duh, every king has one, right?"

"Well, I suppose so."

King Julien nodded, "So, would you like to come see my kingdom?"

Amber struggled to say something. She looked at him and then looked back across the way she had come from to see the penguin habitat. Unfortunately, no one had come after her.

She sighed, "Well, I guess I could come see."

"Perfect!" exclaimed King Julien before taking her flipper and leading her elsewhere.

* * *

Kowalski's eyes began to open. Everything was coming back to him. Everything in sight was materializing slowly. Exactly how did he end up in his bunk? He sat up, not knowing how he had ended up in his bunk and scanned around.

"Ah, so you're finally awake?" Skipper's voice came. The leader penguin stood there, looking at his right hand man in his bunk.

"What? Oh, right, yes," said Kowalski. "I guess I must have blacked out."

"Blacked out?" asked Skipper.

"Blacked out? You mean you fainted?" asked Private.

"Wha-?" said Rico who had been brushing the hair of his doll girlfriend.

"Yes, I do believe I must have fainted," said Kowalski. But then he looked down, his face beginning to turn red. "I remember coming down in here and finding… A-Amber…"

"Yeah, and then," Skipper asked, gesturing his flipper so he could continue.

"And, well, I rushed into my lab, locking myself in there," continued Kowalski.

"Why did you lock yourself in there?" asked Private.

"Well, I… I… I don't know why exactly," but Kowalski knew the exact reason why he dashed into his lab. "Anyway, I finally came out but found… Amber there… and then I guess I must have passed out, possibly the reason why I'm in my bunk."

Skipper looked slightly shocked. Amber was telling the truth!

"So, Amber was telling the truth?" he questioned himself.

"I knew she could have been telling the truth," said Private.

"Uh… wha-?" muttered Rico.

"Where exactly is Amber anyway?" Kowalski asked, scanning around for no source of Amber.

"She um… went out somewhere," answered Private.

"Went out somewhere?" asked Kowalski.

"While you were unconscious," replied Skipper.

Suddenly, from out of the blues, Private began to giggle and smirk. He covered his beak, trying to hold it in.

"Any reason why you're laughing, Private?" shot Skipper.

"You don't think you fainted maybe because-" Private tried his best not to laugh. He continued to smirk and giggle until he could get a hold of himself.

Kowalski blushed.

"Perhaps you were in your lab too long, you must've gotten a headache?" suggested Skipper.

Kowalski didn't know how to answer. Perhaps he did have a "headache"? Or maybe because the fact that he was under a lot of pressure when in front of Amber, her charming face making his insides gooey and his heart fluttering like crazy. Rico gestured his flipper by the side of his head, indicating Kowalski going nuts.

Kowalski sighed, "Men, I… have a confession to make."

"Oh…?" asked Skipper.

"A confession?" Private also asked, hiding a smirk.

"Huh?" was all Rico could ask.

"That nightmare I had a few nights ago… it was not about the dentist," Kowalski sighed. "In fact, it was about… Amber…"

No. He wasn't telling the truth, was he?

"A nightmare… about Amber?" Skipper almost laughed.

Private repeated what Skipper asked, but not with laughter. Rico again repeated, "Huh?"

Kowalski nodded. And then, he drew in a deep breath and exhaled, prepared to start explaining the _real_ nightmare. But why? Why now? Why was he going to start explaining that awful and unspeakable nightmare to them? But, it didn't seem to matter anymore. So then, Kowalski began to explain to them about the nightmare he had had about Amber. It started right from the romantically-decorated HQ to the push and then Amber getting on top of Kowalski and kissing his cheeks and licking his flipper and smacking him and holding him down and almost kissing him passionately on the beak. Skipper was shocked at what he had just heard. Rico immediately proceeded to pull out a paper bag and was throwing up pretty much his lunch into it. Poor Private's mind was filled with disturbing images that would haunt him in his sleep.

"So, that's what my nightmare was about," Kowalski finished and then he sighed.

"So, that's what's caused you to become so distracted?" began Skipper.

"Indeed," answered Kowalski.

"I'm never going to dream of unicorns the same way again," Private said in a state of shock.

Skipper remained silent. He felt a string of all kinds of emotions and thoughts, all full of rage and shock. His options guy had just had a nightmare a couple of nights ago about the new girl in town and now he was so distracted… because of her. What was he going to say or do next? Was he going to kick her out? Was he going to ship her off to her old zoo with all those penguins that supposedly bullied her?

"Now I get it," Skipper finally said. "You're afraid of her, aren't you?"

"Afraid of her?" questioned Private.

Rico didn't say anything. He continued to hurl into his paper bag. Poor Rico. Having to suffer.

"I… I guess I have been afraid of her," said Kowalski.

Afraid of her? No. He wasn't afraid of her. He was attracted to her. He just wasn't acting normal around her. Kowalski knew he was in love with Amber; he was just hiding it. Wait; so Skipper didn't know he was actually in love with her? Then this was perfect!

"How could I let my options guy become so afraid of some girl penguin?" Skipper questioned. "This is all wrong!"

"Skipper, I believe now would be a good time for me to go out there and go find Amber," said Kowalski. "That way, I can get over my fear with her."

"Hmmm, I dunno, Kowalski," said Skipper, rubbing the bottom of his beak. "But, I guess you might as well go find her. She might have already done something bad."

Kowalski smiled and then hopped out of his bunk, already making his way over to the ladder. He looked at each of his team members and then climbed up and exited through the hatch.

"Afraid of her?" Private asked again.

"I can't believe he's been so scared of her this whole time," Skipper thought aloud. "I hope he gets over his fear soon."

Rico finished regurgitating into his paper bag. He groaned loudly. Poor Rico.

_A/N: So that's it today! I had quite a fun time writing this chapter out. It took me forever to getting around to doing it. Well, I'm in school right now so yeah. I had an alternative version of the chapter where they actually found out Kowalski has been in love with Amber, not "afraid" of her. But I don't think my co-writer, the sudoku kid, would have approved. But I did make a couple of changes anyways. So, what will happen next time? And what does King Julien have for Amber? 'Til next time! Please review!_


	12. Just a Confusing Day

_A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry I didn't get this up sooner. I started writing it up on Saturday and then went away on holiday. Anyways, last time, Kowalski finally came to the conclusion that he had fallen in love with Amber. So anyways, I hope you enjoy!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

Chapter Twelve: Just a Confusing Day

"So, that is my castle and that over there is my snack bar and that over there is my throne where I sit and look over my zoo."

King Julien was just done with showing Amber his kingly kingdom, from the bouncy castle to the counter of the snack bar to the throne where the so-called king of the zoo would sit. He gestured, with one arm gesturing and the other wrapped around Amber's shoulder. She wanted to remove it but knew best not to.

_This guy is so annoying,_ Amber groaned in her inner thoughts. _What am I doing here in the first place anyway?_

"So, what are you thinking of my kingly kinged-out kingdom?" asked King Julien eagerly.

"Well… it's okay I guess," answered Amber. "You know, you didn't have to show me around the entire zoo. I already saw it when Marlene was showing me around."

"Marlene? The otter?" asked King Julien.

Amber nodded, "She's really nice."

"True that," agreed King Julien. "So, can I be asking you why you were crying earlier?"

"Crying?" Amber asked. But then she remembered why she had been crying earlier. "I, well, it… it was about… the penguins."

"The penguins?"

"Well, Kowalski's been kinda avoiding me lately and Skipper's all paranoid about me."

"Skipper? The bossy penguin?"

"He… thinks I'm a spy or something…"

King Julien made a noise with his mouth and said, "Oh, don't be believing him! If you were a spy, you would be wearing super cool sunglasses and a speaky phone on the side of your head and have all this other fancy spy gear!"

Amber blushed, "I guess that would be true…"

King Julien smiled. And then, he turned his head and brought his hand up near his mouth and called out, "Mort! Maurice!"

And then, the other two lemur inhabitants came to their excuse of a king, wondering why he had called them.

"Mort, Maurice, do you two remember the female penguin we were seeing the other day?" asked King Julien.

Mort and Maurice examined Amber closely. This was the first time they had gotten a closer look of Amber. Yes, she did look like the female penguin they saw the other day.

"Um… hello," said Amber, feeling nervous.

"Say, you are the penguin we saw the other day," said Maurice.

"Other day?" Amber asked naively.

"We were seeing you dancing with the other penguins the other day," said King Julien. "You got talent."

Amber blushed, "I-I don't have talent. I just… danced."

"Oh, sure you have talent!" said King Julien. "Why else would you be shaking it in front of all those humans and the penguins?"

Amber blushed again, "Beats me, I guess."

"Are you the penguins' sister?" asked Mort highly and from out of nowhere.

"Er… no, apparently not," replied Amber.

"Don't be ridiculous, Mort!" said King Julien.

"So then where are you from?" Maurice asked Amber.

"California," answered Amber.

"California?" asked Maurice. Amber nodded.

"I like California!" squealed Mort.

"You've never even been to California before," said Maurice.

"Well, I don't have to know what it's like to like it!" squealed Mort again.

"I was transferred from California because the penguins at my old zoo were…" Amber gulped. "…bullying me."

"Bullying you?" asked King Julien.

"I don't like bullies!" squealed Mort.

"Mort, be quiet! Didn't you hear the pretty lady?" said King Julien.

"They used to give me a hard time every now and then; they would disturb me whenever I did some experimenting with plants or they would call me a nerd," Amber explained, nearly about to cry.

"Why weren't you telling me about the bullying of the bullies?" gasped King Julien.

"I… I didn't want to say so," replied Amber.

"Well, don't be worrying," said King Julien. "You have us! And you're no nerd! You're a pretty lady!"

Amber blushed. She guessed King Julien could be right. But these were the strangest lemurs she had ever come across. Well, at least they were better than the penguins at her old zoo…

"Th-thank you for everything," she said.

* * *

Kowalski searched and searched for the one he loved, pacing through the zoo grounds and passing every habitat. He didn't have time for a conversation with anyone. He was so focused on Amber, attempting to get over his "fear" with her, but really, he wanted to see her. He wanted to find her. He wanted her to come back to the penguin HQ. He wanted Amber. He wanted her more than anything right now. He wanted to be with her. He wanted her by his side. He wanted her. Kowalski stopped to pant and catch his breath back. He rested his flipper against the side of a wall beside him, unknown to which habitat he had come across. He panted and panted. He was running out of time.

_I can't find her,_ he thought to himself. _Where could she be?_

"Hey, Kowalski!"

Kowalski's eyes lit up. That voice. Could it be? His heart was already fluttering in excitement and nervousness. But now he had heard the voice of the one he loved. He felt a smile come on and his eyes were starting to light with glory. He was ready to turn around and see… Amber.

"Amber! I-" but once he turned around to find Marlene, his happy feeling disappeared. His heart had lightened up… for her? He frowned, "Oh, it's only you, Marlene."

"Um… Amber?" asked Marlene.

Kowalski blushed and chuckled, "Oh, I just assumed you were her…"

"Uh, okay?" said Marlene. "So, what are you doing? You look determined about something. Something bugging you?"

"I'm… I'm…" he started. "Have you seen Amber?"

"Amber?" asked Marlene. "I did, not too long ago."

"You did?" came from Kowalski's mouth in pure excitement. He covered his beak as though he shouldn't have said that. He cleared his throat. "I mean, you did?" he asked more calmly.

"Yeah, I saw her… with Julien," replied Marlene.

"Well that's-" wait; who? "Julien?"

"Yeah," replied Marlene. "I think he was showing her around the zoo or something which I did a couple of days ago. He looked really happy too. And he had his arm around her too."

Kowalski stared at the ground, frowning. Why would Amber be with the most annoying animal in the zoo?

"Why are you looking for her anyway?" Marlene asked, trying to not sound rude.

Kowalski looked up. He knew she wasn't being rude. She just wanted to know why. But what was he supposed to say? Say that he is in love with Amber and is on the greatest adventure to find her?

"All right…" he started. "I've… kind of… well…"

"Well what?" asked Marlene,

Kowalski gulped and spat it out, "I've… I've fallen in love with Amber."

Marlene's eyes widened. She could not believe what she had heard. She knew Amber was in love with Kowalski and now Kowalski was in love with Amber. However, she knew best not to tell Kowalski Amber's love for him. Kowalski should find out.

"Well, that's um… great!" Marlene finally said, smiling. "Congrads."

"But I'm having issues," Kowalski said suddenly. "I can't look into her face without my heart accelerating. I keep having crazy fantasies about her. I can't focus on my training either! I even spilt acid all over my work bench! I can't do anything right around her! This isn't me! What- what do I do?"

"Relax, Kowalski," Marlene said, calming the love-struck penguin down. "You're in love. Of course you're gonna feel that way. All you need to do is confess your feelings to her. Perhaps you should take her out on a date?"

"A date? You mean the activity lovers do, involving… involving what exactly?" asked Kowalski.

"A date is an activity lovers do, involving holding hands or walking on beaches or having picnics in the park," explained Marlene.

"I… I could never ask Amber out on a date," said Kowalski. "I'm not the type of guy who could ask someone out. And besides, I have too many things to do."

Yes. Kowalski was the type of guy who could not ask a girl out. He could not comprehend with emotions or feelings or women. Even if he sat through an entire romance film with Private, he would still not understand how love worked. Even whenever Valentines Day came around, he could not understand how the holiday worked. Even just by watching Rico flirt with Miss Perky, he did not understand how that worked. He was just a nerd. A plain nerd who could understand the world of science. Not romance but science.

"Come on, Kowalski, you can ask her out," advised Marlene. "You're a logical guy; sure you can ask a girl out on a date. You two love science so asking her out shouldn't be so hard. And I'm _sure_ she'd love to go out with you."

By "sure", it sounded like she meant it. Would Amber really like to go out with him on a date?

"I… I don't know how I'm supposed to ask her out," Kowalski sighed. "And I don't even know what we would do."

"Perhaps you could ask her what she'd like to do?" suggested Marlene. "Or you could take her out into the park, do some sight-seeing. I heard there was supposed to be a full moon out this week. Maybe you could show her that?"

Kowalski's eyes lit with satisfaction and agreement. Of course! Amber said that she had always wanted to see a full moon up closely. Yes! He could take her out after all!

"Marlene, you're a genius!" Kowalski exclaimed, taking her paw and shaking it up and down several times like crazy. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Uh, okay, I think you made your point," said Marlene, staring down as he shook her paw. Kowalski noticed her odd face and immediately stopped shaking her paw and released it.

"Oh, right, sorry about that," said Kowalski. "But, yes, thank you for everything. I'm off to go find her. And I think I know where she is!"

And then, Kowalski left, leaving Marlene standing there. Her paw felt weak from all the shaking.

"Uh, well, uh, sure," she said, watching after Kowalski. He was plain out of character. But he was only in love.

Kowalski slid up to the wall surrounding the lemur habitat. He jumped up onto a close by bench and then jumped up onto the wall, managing to cling onto the wall. He heaved himself up to see the interior of the lemur habitat. Already, he could see Amber sitting on a stool with her sketch pad present, her pencil dancing all over the sketch pad. He looked across from her to see King Julien posing with a leg up on a small stool and one arm resting on his hip and the other raised above him as if he was holding an invisible royal staff.

"Okay, I think I've finished," Kowalski heard Amber say and watched as she let go of her pencil.

"You have?" asked King Julien, removing his leg from the stool and letting the rest of his body droop in tiredness. "It took that long?"

"It's been only ten minutes," said Amber. "And art takes quite a while to do. And you have to be patient with it."

Kowalski watched as King Julien stretched his body out, still tired from posing for ten minutes. For him, it felt like an hour or so. He walked over to Amber to see her piece of artwork. Kowalski could hear him gasp in glee.

"It is… it is perfect! It is the most handsomest thing I have ever seen! Besides myself of course."

"Really?" asked Amber.

"Yes! You're even more perfecter than Maurice there," said King Julien, pointing to Maurice.

"Say what?" Kowalski heard Maurice say, looking over at him and noticing Mort sitting on the counter before looking back over at Amber and King Julien.

"Well, uh, th-thank you," Amber said to King Julien and already, Kowalski could see blush growing on Amber's face as she brought her sketch pad up to her face.

_Is she… blushing?_ Kowalski questioned himself.

"Maurice, how are those smoothies coming along?" King Julien asked.

Kowalski looked over at Maurice to hear his answer. It looked as though he wasn't even prepared to make a smoothie.

"But, you didn't even tell me you wanted smoothies," Maurice protested.

"Less talkie, more makie!" King Julien blabbered.

Kowalski looked back over at Maurice who groaned before pulling out the blender from under the counter and then walking over to the cupboards and pulling out two cups. Not bothering to watch Maurice make smoothies, Kowalski looked back over at Amber to see King Julien eyeing Amber with his bright yellow eyes.

"Mort!" King Julien shouted. "Turn on the boomy box for me so my feet can boogey away!"

Kowalski turned to see Mort hop off the counter and made his way over to the boomy box eagerly. With the push of a button, the lemurs' signature loud and annoying music sounded aloud, blowing poor Mort away. Kowalski looked back at King Julien to see him beginning to shake his thang before Amber. He swished his hips and shook his booty, even close to her face! Amber's beak dropped in shock but to Kowalski, it looked like her beak had dropped in awe.

"Like that, huh?" King Julien asked the shock but awe-looked Amber, continuing to dance.

Kowalski didn't like the look of what he was seeing. Amber looked stunned just by watching King Julien dancing before her. How had his dancing ever impressed anyone? And why was Amber so stunned about King Julien's annoying dance moves?

"Come on! Dance with me!" said King Julien. "You know you want to!"

"Can you please mind putting the music down a bit please?" Amber asked after a while.

"Oh, had enough of my dancing, huh?" smiled King Julien. "All right. Mort! Turn off the boomy box so my feet can rest!"

Mort crawled his way back to the boomy-box and managed to push the stop button, causing the heavy-blowing music to be put to an end.

"Thank you," sighed Amber, standing up.

Kowalski sighed as well. His ear canals were almost dead. Then, he noticed King Julien putting on a smile and his eyes drooping. He got a little closer to Amber and then _WOOSH! _he had dipped her down in his royal arms, staring into her hazel-brown eyes with his yellow eyes. Amber's eyes widened and her blush was returning on her face. The show was just getting weirder.

"Uh… what are you doing?" asked Amber.

"Oh, you know, just dipping you romantically," replied King Julien, leaning in. "You are the most beautifulest girl I have ever seen."

Amber turned red again, "I… I kind of feel uncomfortable…."

"Don't be worrying. There's no need to feel uncomfortable when you're being with me," and then he stroked the side of her head with a free hand.

"Julien, I-"

"I know you want to be with me. You don't have to be with those penguins. Together, we can be king and queen of the zoo?

"Queen?"

"You talk too much. Why talk when we could kiss?"

And then, he puckered and leaned closer. Amber's eyes widened. Kowalski frowned upon the sight. Now King Julien was going to make her all his. Suddenly, Kowalski could see Amber raising a flipper and then _SMACK!_ Amber had smacked King Julien across the face with her free flipper and then she grabbed him by the arm and slammed his body on the ground! Good on ya!

"That's a little move I learnt back at my old zoo!" said Amber. "And for the record, I'm a penguin, not a lemur! And I'd never want to be with you!"

And then, she grabbed her sketch pad and pencil and began making her way out of the habitat. But before she could…

"Oh, and here's your picture!" and then she ripped the sketch of King Julien she had been working on out of her sketch pad and then made her way out. The piece of paper blew in the wind toward King Julien and managed to land perfectly in his hands.

"Please be coming back!" yelled King Julien as if he was sobbing.

Not wanting to waste time with watching King Julien suffer, Kowalski let go of the wall and let his body drop to the ground below, landing perfectly on his feet. Then he spotted Amber waddling off. He had no time to chase after her.

"Amber!" Kowalski called out.

Amber growled. She was pretty sure maybe King Julien had followed her. But she didn't have time to recognize the voice.

"I thought I told you-" but once she turned around, she was facing Kowalski. She saw that he was alive and well. She blushed. "Kowalski?"

_A/N: Cliffhanger! Kinda. Yeah, I wasn't too sure what to write next. And I apologize again that it was so long! Sorry if I failed at trying to make this chapter funny. Anyways, what will happen next time? Will Kowalski have the guts to ask Amber out? Or will she ask him out? Til next time! Please review!_


	13. Experimenting With a Blast of Asking Out

_A/N: Hey everyone! Last time, Kowalski went out to go find Amber and get over his "fear" of her. I left a cliffy at the end since I kinda wanted suspicion or something. Anyways, enjoy!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

Chapter Thirteen: Experimenting with a Blast of Asking Out

The two penguins stood before each other, becoming lost with what to say. After dead silence, Amber put on a smile. She was glad to see Kowalski finally awake again. She still wasn't too sure why he had passed out earlier. But she was just glad he was still alive.

"Kowalski, you're… you're alive!" was the first thing that came from Amber's beak.

"A-alive?" asked Kowalski, slightly confused.

But then, without another word from Amber, she ran up towards him and wrapped her flippers… around his waist! Kowalski turned red.

"A-Amber," Kowalski said and then clearing his throat nervously. "Uh… w-would you mind?"

Amber looked up and then back down to see her body so close to Kowalski's. She turned red and immediately let go and backed up a little.

"Oh, uh, s-sorry about that," said Amber. "I-I'm just gl-glad to see you're okay."

"Y-yes, I am. W-why would you be asking a question like that?" asked Kowalski

Amber slightly frowned, "Well, you… passed out… in front of me."

"Passed out?" asked Kowalski. "Oh, y-yes, of course. I-I can explain-"

"It's okay, Kowalski," said Amber. "There's no need to. I'm just glad you're okay."

Kowalski sighed in relief, "W-would you like to come back to the HQ? Do some experimenting? W-we can discuss anything on the way back.

Amber smiled, "Sure."

"Oh, and if Skipper asks about me being afraid of you, don't worry," said Kowalski as the two started walking.

"Pardon?"

"Skipper believes I'm afraid of you."

"Why would he think that?"

"It's just Skipper."

"Being all paranoid about me again?"

"I believe so."

* * *

Paranoid paranoid, paranoid. Skipper could not wait another minute for Kowalski and Amber to get back. He wondered if Kowalski's "fear" of Amber had been conquered yet or if Amber had already started terrorizing the zoo or had already burnt it down to the ground. Where were they?

"I can't believe I let her off that easily," said Skipper. "She's probably already gotten into enough trouble."

"You really think she would be going around causing problems?" asked Private during a match of chess against Rico. "She seems too nice to cause anything bad to happen."

""Too nice to cause anything bad to happen"?" Skipper shot back like a mirror. "That's what Manfreedi and Johnson said about that last female penguin they came across. She was nice but caused a lot of problems like blowing up a fish truck. We nearly starved ourselves."

Rico nodded and then moved a knight forward.

"But she really does seem like a nice and kind penguin," protested Private. "She hasn't started anything bad around here yet. She just-"

"But what about Kowalski suddenly becoming afraid of her?" shot Skipper, already walking through the chess set, knocking down every piece. "That's something bad. I can't afford to have a team member be so afraid of some girl who thinks she fits into this zoo. It just ain't right. I mean, we're men and she's a girl! How can a man be so afraid of a girl like her?"

Rico puffed out his chest and put his flippers on his hips like the man he was and grunted, "Yeah."

Private giggled, "I don't think he's afraid of her."

"And how do you know that?" asked Skipper.

Private giggled more, "You don't suppose Kowalski-"

Just then, Amber and Kowalski popped down through the hatch just at the right moment. Skipper's eyes shifted from Private to the two penguins together. They both looked slightly… happy.

"So, there you two are," said Skipper, his flippers on his hips already. "I was expecting you'd be back here soon enough."

"Well, we're back," said Kowalski, almost about to chuckle.

Amber didn't say anything. She stared at the concrete ground below her, not wanting to look at Skipper. She was sure he would say something to her.

"So, Amber, I shouldn't have let you off so easily," began Skipper. "Caused any trouble? Or do I have to go out there and find out myself?"

Amber looked up, her flippers clenching.

"No, no, Skipper. She didn't cause any trouble," said Kowalski. "I eventually found her at… the lemur habitat… with Julien."

"The lemur habitat?" Amber and Skipper both asked. "Ringtail?" added Skipper.

"Yes," answered Kowalski.

"How did you know I was at the lemur habitat?" asked Amber.

Kowalski face palmed. Now she was going to know he was possibly spying on the two.

"All right, I peeked over the lemur habitat to see you and Julien," Kowalski confessed. "I was searching for you."

"Amber, haven't I told you to stay away from those lemurs?" asked Skipper. "Or would you rather join them and their late night parties?"

Amber thought about it, "Actually, you never did. And why would I want to join them? They are annoying, especially Julien. He gave me a tour around the zoo when I already went on a tour with Marlene and then he asked me to sketch him and then he starting dancing in front of me and he tried to flirt with me."

Skipper cocked an eyebrow. He was almost about to laugh.

"Ringtail tried to flirt with you?" Skipper asked through a chuckle.

"Yes, he tried to. And then, I smacked him and… flipped him," said Amber.

"Flipped him?" asked Skipper.

"I saw it," said Kowalski. "It was… it was amazing. She just picked him up and tossed him onto the ground. I've never seen something like it before."

"So, you had the guts to smack him and toss him to the ground?" asked Skipper, cocking an eyebrow.

"What? Not gonna believe me, I guess?" asked Amber.

Skipper shook his head and smirked, "I believe ya. If Kowalski ever said something like that, I'm more likely to believe ya."

"You really think so?" asked Amber.

Skipper nodded, "I've always wanted to do something like that done to Ringtail for a while now. If only I had been there to see."

Amber felt a combination of anger and happiness. Did Skipper really mean it?

"Well, I can see why you all despise him so much, especially you, Skipper," said Amber. "He was just so annoying."

Skipper put on his usual grin of satisfaction. Kowalski sighed in relief. Amber officially did not like King Julien.

"So, Skipper, to help get over my fear, I would like to do some experimenting with Amber," said Kowalski, lightly shoving Amber towards the lab and giving Skipper a strange look.

"Hmmm, good idea, soldier," said Skipper.

And then Kowalski and Amber entered the lab, shutting the door behind them. It was a perfect way for Kowalski to get over his "fear" of Amber, or at least that's what Skipper was thinking.

"I still don't think he's afraid of her," Private whispered under his breath.

"What was that, Private?" asked Skipper.

"Oh, nothing," replied Private.

Skipper rolled his eyes and sighed.

* * *

Kowalski pulled out a container of calcium and placed it on his work bench. He moved over to the sink and began filling a beaker with water and then brought it over to the bench. Already on the bench was a packet of baking powder. Amber stood there at the bench with her pair of goggles on, frowning.

"All right, so would you like to see what happens to calcium when mixed with water or baking powder mixed with water?" asked Kowalski.

Amber looked up to see Kowalski putting on a pair of goggles. "Well, uh, sure, the calcium first. I've never really experimented with calcium before."

"Then this will be a good opportunity to see what happens when you put calcium into water," said Kowalski.

He began unscrewing the lid of the container containing the calcium and then picked up a pair of tongs and used that to pick up a small piece of calcium. Then, he lightly dropped it into the beaker of water. It began to sizzle with a _SIZZLE_. Amber's eyes glowed with amazement. She had never seen something like it before.

"I always thought calcium was the stuff you drink," she said.

"Well, this is where you get calcium from," said Kowalski.

The calcium continued to sizzle. Slowly, steam began to rise from the beaker into the atmosphere. Amber smiled.

"I'm guessing the chemical equation is H2O plus Ca equals Ca(OH)2?" asked Amber. "Water plus calcium equals calcium bracket hydroxide bracket two?"

"Very good," said Kowalski. "Very, _very_ good."

Amber blushed but then frowned again.

"Kowalski, why does Skipper hate me?" she asked.

"Pardon?" asked Kowalski.

"It seems like Skipper hates me," said Amber. "He's always breathing down my back or glaring at me like he hates me."

"I don't think he hates you, Amber," answered Kowalski. "Sure, it may seem like he hates you but it's very clear that it's his paranoia getting in the way. So he doesn't hate you."

Amber smiled, "Thank you so much, Kowalski. Y-you're a… a great friend."

Kowalski blushed, "R-really?"

Amber nodded, "I've… never had a better friend before."

Kowalski blushed deeper, "I-I've… never had a better friend before either."

The two looked back at the calcium to see its fizzing had finally come to an end. The water had risen and was bubbly. Kowalski took the beaker of calcium-mixed water to the sink and rinsed it thoroughly. He then grabbed another beaker and filled it up with water and brought it over to the bench.

"Kowalski, have you heard about Ernest Rutherford?" asked Amber.

"Ruther who?" asked Kowalski.

"Ernest Rutherford," repeated Amber. "He was a New Zealand born British man, born on the thirtieth of August, 1871. He was a chemist and a physicist and then became the father of nuclear physics."

"The father of nuclear physics?" asked Kowalski, turning all of his attention on Amber.

"Yes. He split the atom in a gold foil experiment and discovered and named the proton."

"He discovered the proton?" asked Kowalski.

"Yes. I read about him back at my old zoo," said Amber. "He did most of his work back in the United Kingdom."

"Why have I never heard about such a man?" asked Kowalski.

Amber shrugged, "Well, it was good I was able to find a book about him."

Amber was so full of information was what Kowalski could think about. She had researched into a man who he had never heard about. Amber was like a book to him. She was so full of words. She truly was the smartest girl he had ever met. Perhaps he could ask her out after all. He was in the perfect place at the perfect moment. Asking her out shouldn't be so hard.

"A-Amber," he began.

"Yes?" asked Amber.

"A-Amber, w-would you, uh… like to…" he started, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"Like to?" replied Amber.

Kowalski began to sweat in nervousness. He couldn't spit it out.

"Um… w-would you like to… maybe… go o-out somewhere… w-with me?"

Amber's eyes widened. Was Kowalski trying to ask her out?

_Is… is Kowalski trying to ask me out_? she asked herself. "Kowalski, are you-"

"No! No! I didn't mean that! I meant, would you, go out, do something with me, no I didn't mean it that way! Would you-"

Amber's flipper reached out towards his beak, covering it, piping him down.

"Relax, Kowalski," Amber said firmly. "Just relax. Please, could you repeat again?"

She pulled her flipper back. Kowalski sighed.

"A-Amber, w-would you care to do something… w-with me… one night?" said Kowalski.

Amber's eyes really did widen. Kowalski was asking her out! _He is asking me out!_ Amber exclaimed in her mind. "A-are you talking about going out on a date?"

"N-no! It doesn't have to be! I just assumed-"

Amber giggled and covered his beak again, "I think I know what you mean. And yes, I'd love to go do something with you one night."

"R-really?" Kowalski muffled through her flipper, getting nervous by the fact that she was covering his beak. Amber pulled her flipper away and nodded. "Y-you really would like to… go on a date… with me?"

Amber nodded, "Yes, Kowalski. You don't have to get so worked up about it. You just need to relax."

"I-I was just nervous. I-I've never really asked anyone out before," replied Kowalski.

He was so nervous; he bumped back into the bench, causing the baking powder to rock back and forth before tipping over and then the baking powder began to pour into the water-filled beaker and then _SIZZLE!_ The water within the beaker began to react violently with the mixed baking powder! Kowalski and Amber looked back and then the two backed away from the vicious reaction on the bench as it literally rocked about and was bubbly crazily and hissing loudly. Not only did they back away but they were also hugging in fear! The two pulled away in embarrassment.

"S-sorry about that," the both of them said.

The two of them rubbed their flippers, looking away in embarrassment for a second before looking back at each other.

"S-so, when would you like to go out and do something?" asked Amber.

"Well, we can't do it tonight," Kowalski finally answered. "Tonight is game night."

"Okay, how about tomorrow night? Is that okay?" suggested Amber.

Kowalski thought it over and then, "Yes. Tomorrow would be a good night. I have nothing to do and I do believe Skipper said we would give us time off. Yes, tomorrow night is perfect!"

"That's perfect!" exclaimed Amber.

"Perhaps we could go out once it's sunset?" asked Kowalski. Amber nodded in agreement. "Also, there is supposed to be a full moon out this week and you did say you always wanted to see it through a telescope. I do have a telescope around in here. Would you like to see the moon using that?"

Amber's eyes lit with excitement, "Sure! I've always wanted to see a full moon up so closely! This will all be perfect! Oh, thank you so much, Kowalski!"

And without another word, she wrapped her flippers around Kowalski, hugging him tightly. She was so grateful that the man of her life wanted to go out with her, wanted to show her the full moon, wanted to be with her, just wanted to spend time with her.

"Er… Amber," Kowalski said, beginning to redden.

Amber stopped enjoying the moment when she realized she was again hugging Kowalski. She let go, starting to also redden up.

"Oh, s-sorry about that," she said. "W-well, I think I'm gonna go have a little rest. I wanna be bright and happy tomorrow for our… date."

Kowalski nodded. And then, Amber pulled off her goggles and placed them down and then exited the lab. After a short moment of silence, Kowalski's body leapt up into the air and he exclaimed, "Yes!"

* * *

Amber lay awake in her bunk that night, thinking over what could possibly happen the next night. She was going to out on a date with Kowalski. She was going to do things with him. She was going to do all the things she could just imagine doing with him, from holding flippers with him to walking through the park with him to hugging him to kissing him to mating with him- wait; what? Amber sighed dreamily. She reached behind her and pulled out her little purple diary and then pulled out her pencil and opened the little diary and began to write;

_Dear diary. Kowalski asked me out on a date! I can't believe it! He actually asked me out! I'm so excited! I'll probably be able to hold flippers with him or kiss him. He said he would bring his telescope along and show me a close up of the full moon through that. Oh, Kowalski is the only man I'll ever love._

At the bottom of the page, she wrote "I" and then drew a heart and then wrote "Kowalski" so that it formed "I love Kowalski". She then closed her diary and put it away behind her pillow, along with her pencil and rested her head against the pillow, attempting to fall asleep. However, she was so excited. She could feel excitement flowing through her blood. She was just so eager that she was going to go out with Kowalski. What a feeling.

_A/N: So that's it today! Sorry again that it was so long! I was aiming to make this chapter simply short but I guess I had so many ideas! Yeah, I wanted to put in Ernest Rutherford, the man who discovered the atom. And he was born in New Zealand, my home country. Fancy that huh? Anyways, Kowalski finally asked Amber out. Will Amber ever fall asleep? What will she and Kowalski do together? Find out next time! Please review!_


	14. Amber and Kowalski's Date with Destiny

_A/N: Hey guys. Last time, Kowalski asked Amber out on a date and now Amber is super excited about it. So now, the time has come for the date! So, I hope you enjoy!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

Chapter Fourteen: Amber and Kowalski's Date with Destiny

Giddy, giddy, giddy. That's how Amber felt that next morning after having a somewhat troublesome night of sleep. She couldn't stop thinking about the date Kowalski had asked her out on. But she had not yet experienced the date and was unknown to how the date would go with Kowalski. But her smile of excitement remained on her face throughout the morning.

"Can I ask why you look so happy this fine morning?" asked Skipper before yawning and taking a sip out of his cup of coffee accompanied with a fish.

Amber's beak did not open for a reply. Her smile seemed to be frozen to her face. It seemed Skipper's snarky-ish words did not matter at the moment. Amber continued to smile as every thought of going out with Kowalski poured in. Skipper sighed at the look and then took another sip.

"What's with Amber?" asked Private. "She looks extremely happy."

"Don't bother asking her," replied Skipper. "She didn't reply to me. But that smile is kinda freaking me out a little."

Private shrugged and then passed his leader to get a better picture of Amber's big grin of enjoyment.

"Gee, Amber, you look really happy today," he said. "Can I ask why?"

Private's words seemed to get through to Amber loud and clear. She came back from her little land of happiness and her smile eased down a bit.

"Oh, um… I'm just excited that… um," Amber wasn't sure if she should tell Private what she was so excited about. "H-have you seen… K-Kowalski?"

"Uh… I think he's busy at the moment," replied Private, eyeing her strangely yet cheekily. "I think he said he didn't want anyone to bother him at the moment."

Amber cocked an eyebrow. No one bother him? Not even come in to see what he was up to?

"Well then, I think I'll go see Marlene," she said. "I hope she's not doing anything busy. I haven't really had a good girl talk with her for a while."

"I could take you there," suggested Private, smiling.

Amber nodded and returned the smile, "Sure."

* * *

Marlene imitated the structure of a vase of flowers onto a canvas before her, adding every detail of the vase and flowers with her paintbrush, adding just the right colours and shading. The painting almost looked the same as if it was a reflection in a mirror. Marlene stood back, smiling at her accomplishment.

"Um, hello there, Marlene," a voice called out.

Marlene placed her paintbrush down and turned around to see Amber. If it had been any of the other penguins, she would have been mad that they had not bothered to knock but she knew Amber was still new here. She smiled.

"Hey there, Amber," she said. "What brings you here?"

Amber took another step into the caved interior. She had only been inside it at least one time; the day when Marlene had guided her on a tour around the zoo.

"Um… how do I say this?" she said, rubbing the back of her head.

"Say what?" asked Marlene.

Amber put on a big grin and then brought her flippers out and exclaimed loudly and happily, "Marlene, Kowalski asked me out on a date!"

"He did?" replied Marlene, slightly stunned. "That's… that's great! I never thought he'd ask you out!"

"I know, right?" replied Amber. "But he did! We were just experimenting and then he asked me out! I can't believe it! I'm so excited!"

Marlene simply grinned. She was satisfied that such a nerdy penguin like Kowalski whose never had a chance with the ladies would be able to ask a girl out. Seeing the happy and thrilled face on Amber's face, she knew nothing could go wrong. Being with Kowalski, she knew Amber would be perfectly safe with him. Nothing could stop them.

"Well, I'm really happy he was able to ask you out," said Marlene.

"Me too," said Amber. "But, you know, I'm starting to feel it's not just a crush anymore."

Marlene cocked an eyebrow, "Not just a crush?"

Amber nodded, "I think… I think I'm… actually… in love with him. I just love him so much. He's just such a manly man."

"Well, then, that's great! You know, you two do look rather cute together."

"W-what? W-we do?" Amber stuttered, turning crimson red.

Marlene nodded, "You two would look even cuter out on a date like tonight."

"R-really?" she asked. Marlene nodded again. "Wait; I'm nervous. I'm feeling nervous about the date. What if something does go wrong? What if I do something stupid around Kowalski? What if he… he…" she was already going back to her crimson face. "…k-kisses me?"

She could already feel her heart throbbing but it wasn't exactly a new feeling. She had experienced it many times. But this feeling did feel sort of new to her. She could hear Kowalski's name with each heartbeat, going _bom-bom, Kowalski, bom-bom Kowalski, bom-bom, Kowalski… _It sounded like a remix drum beat.

"Don't worry," said Marlene. "I'm sure he'd be too nervous to even start a kiss. I've known him for a long time and he's always had problems with girls. But, you can kiss him first if you wish to."

"M-me k-k-kiss him first?" asked Amber. "I-I'm not even sure how."

Marlene wrapped an arm around the penguin, bringing her a little closer. "First, the date must go well. Just stay cool and calm. Then when you're in the perfect spot at the perfect moment, tell him you love him. And then kiss him but don't just kiss him; give him the most passionate kiss you can."

"A p-passionate kiss?" asked Amber.

"Well, it doesn't have to be passionate," replied Marlene. "Just at least a kiss with all your might. You can do it; I know you can."

Marlene let go of Amber. Amber smiled at her only girl friend. She had given her some great advice. And she was ready to use that advice on Kowalski. She was ready to go out on that date with Kowalski. She was ready for holdings flippers, chatting, laughing, loving, hugging, kissing, mating- what?

"Thank you, Marlene," said Amber. "You've given me some great advice. You really are a great friend to have."

Marlene scratched the back of her head, "Well, it was nothing, I mean, if you want more advice, you can-"

But Amber was suddenly gone! Just like that! Where did she go?

* * *

The day slowly progressed; even the sun was having some difficulty moving across the sky. A few clouds were passing by every few minutes and the shadows the distance city buildings casted were changing every so often. The penguins had their usual daily routines such as having to deal with the lemurs and their chaotic chaos or performing missions like rescuing Sad Eyes (Mort) from a flag pole. Amber's day was all about remaining calm about the date but also feeling super excited or thinking about the man of her dreams or even fantasizing about the future kiss the two would share. Eventually, the sun was beginning to set in the far distance. The city buildings casted a new set of shadows over the city and the zoo was closing down for the evening. Finally, the time had come. It was time for the date; the date of destiny.

Kowalski and Amber stood before the gates of the zoo, leading out to Central Park. The gates were still open, just in time for them to step out, showing them the freedom of the outside world.

"C-care to h-hold my fl-flipper?" asked Kowalski, reaching a flipper out.

"Uh… s-sure," replied Amber.

And then, they grabbed both their flippers and then waddled out of the zoo and into Central Park. The air was so perfect and fresh. The world they had stepped into was so open and wild and free. Amber was glad she was able to take another trip into Central Park but only with Kowalski, no other penguin, just Kowalski. They waddled through the park grounds, wondering what there was best to do first. Kowalski spotted a snow-cone stand in the distance but not too far from where they were. Perfect!

"Amber, can I ask you to wait here for a minute?" asked Kowalski.

"Uh, sure," replied Amber.

And then, Kowalski got off on his belly, sliding towards the snow-cone stand. Amber remained there, waiting for him to get back. A minute later, he wasn't back. Two minutes later, he still wasn't back. Three minutes later, he was not back. Come on. Suddenly, Kowalski was waddling back, holding two rainbow snow-cones in his flippers.

"So sorry I'm late," he said. "It wasn't easy trying to get these. Here you go."

And then he passed her a snow-cone. Amber looked at it strangely as though she had never seen a snow-cone before in her life.

"Um… what is this?" she asked.

Kowalski cocked an eyebrow, "It's a snow-cone. Never had one before?"

"Um… no," replied Amber. "But it was kind of you to get one."

Kowalski blushed. Suddenly, the two heard a sound coming from a bush. The bush twitched and moved as though it was… alive? What? But then, a big, bushy tail stuck out. This tail looked familiar to Kowalski.

"W-what is that?" asked Amber.

And then, a head poked out. It was none other than Fred, the dumbest squirrel Kowalski had ever come across. He had first met him when Marlene had gone nuts out in the park.

"Hello," said Fred.

"Oh, hello there, Fred," greeted Kowalski. "I thought that might have been you."

"Why wouldn't it be me?" replied Fred.

"Um, who is he?" asked Amber.

"Oh, Amber, this is Fred. Fred, this is Amber," Kowalski greeted the two to each other, gesturing his flippers.

"Is she your sister?" Fred asked Kowalski.

"Er… no," replied Kowalski.

"Then is she your cousin?"

"No."

"Then is she your girlfriend?"

Kowalski blushed, "N-no. Sh-she's just my… my…"

"We're just friends," said Amber.

"You mean boyfriend and girlfriend?" replied Fred.

"No. Just friends, spending time together."

Fred shrugged and then saw Kowalski beginning to lick his snow-cone. Fred cocked an eyebrow at the sight as if it was meant to look strange.

"Why are you licking a clown's wig?" Fred asked him stupidly, pointing to the snow-cone.

Kowalski looked up. Oh gosh. Another stupid question, just what he needed, just what he needed on a date with Amber. He shifted his eyes to Amber who looked completely dumbfounded by Fred's question.

"This isn't a clown's wig, Fred," replied Kowalski. "This is a snow-cone."

"Then why is it all bright and colourful? Why isn't it white?" asked Fred.

Amber's dumbfounded look just got even more dumbfounded. What this guy for real? Kowalski sighed. He really was not in any mood to deal with Fred taking everything so literally.

"Come on, Amber," he said, walking off with Amber following after him.

"It was nice to meet you!" Amber called back.

"If you see a clown walking around with a bald, do tell me!" Fred called to the two penguins.

So on with the date. The two penguins licked away at their snow-cones, taking in every flavour they came across. Blueberry. Strawberry. Lime. Lemon. Was there anything else that tasted so sweet? Amber's taste buds had never experienced anything so delicious and icy before. She wondered how exactly how snow-cones were made.

Kowalski would glance over at Amber every now and then, seeing how delightful she seemed to be. Then, his blue eyes caught a glimpse of a beautiful red rose. Letting go of Amber's flipper for a second, Kowalski ran, or waddled, towards the rose and picked it out of the ground. Poor rose. Then he waddled back to Amber, handing her the rose. She sniffed it and grinned.

"It's beautiful," she said. "I love it."

"I-I thought you might," said Kowalski, his cheeks duplicating the rose's colour.

The sun continued to set behind the city buildings and the sky slowly became darker. The two penguins chatted and laughed during their date, from their usual nerdy talk to sharing stories from the past. Everything was going just fine. Everything was going perfectly.

Night had fallen and the sound of the city traffic had become deaf. The full moon had already made its rightful appearance in the pitch-black sky with the stars twinkling marvellously. Amber and Kowalski had found the perfect park bench in the park to sit at, just gazing at the luminous and beautiful orb of magical light in the sky. What a sight. What a day.

"Oh, the moon is so beautiful tonight," Amber moaned. "It's never been this beautiful before."

"It sure is," said Kowalski.

"Oh, if only I could see it more closely," said Amber.

"Oh, shoot!" said Kowalski suddenly. "I forgot to bring my telescope along! I can't believe it! I had it right there in my lab, just sitting on my bench! I can't believe it!"

"K-Kowalski, it's okay," said Amber, trying to calm the stressed penguin down. "I-I can see the full moon perfectly from here."

"Y-you can?" replied Kowalski.

Amber nodded, "Perhaps you could get a rope and attach it to the moon and pull it down?"

Kowalski cocked an eyebrow as though she had gone crazy, "Amber, that's physically impossible. You can't attach a rope to the moon and expect to pull it down. It denies all laws of physics."

Amber frowned. Had she just been told off?

"I-I'm sorry," she said, frowning.

Kowalski noticed her sadness overcoming her. He didn't mean to hurt her. Good going, Kowalski. Him and his brain taking everything he hears literally.

"N-no, I-I didn't mean it that way," he said. "I mean, it's just… it's just…"

Suddenly, a piece of dialogue came into his mind. _What would you like me to do? Give the moon to ya? I'll attach a rope to the moon and pull it down for ya._ He had heard from somewhere. Of course! He could remember watching an old 1950s romance film with Private. The lady had asked to see a full moon so closely and so her man wanted to just attach a rope to the moon and pull it down for her.

"I-I understand exactly what you mean, Amber," Kowalski said. "If I could get a rope, I would attach it to the moon and pull it down just for you."

Amber's eyes sparkled, even the full moon reflected in her eyes. "Oh… oh, Kowalski!" And then she wrapped her flippers around Kowalski, giving him such a touched and thankful hug. "You are so kind."

Kowalski began to redden up again, even the light of the full moon brightened up his rose-red cheeks. His heart was already fluttering away. But the hug felt so warm and cozy. From every hug Amber had given him, this felt like the most heartfelt hug he had ever been given. He returned the hug. If he could, he would get a rope and attach it to the moon and pull it down for Amber. He didn't need a telescope just to show her the moon up closely. After a while, the hug faded as they pulled away.

Kowalski cleared his throat, "A-Amber, c-could you close your eyes please? I-I have something to give you."

Amber's heart almost skipped a beat. It wasn't what she was possibly thinking, was it? A kiss? But wait; this was the perfect moment. The two were in the perfect location and the full moon was lit in the sky. This was just the perfect moment. So Amber closed her eyes and puckered. Yes. She was ready for her kiss. Suddenly, she felt something being placed into her flippers. She opened her eyes to see a model of what looked like a twisted ladder? No, a DNA structure.

"I-I made that for you," said Kowalski. "Th-that's why I seemed busy today."

Amber examined the DNA structure carefully. It was so creative and so detailed. She could not believe a geek like Kowalski was able to make such a thing. She smiled.

"I love it," she said. "Thank you so much, Kowalski."

Kowalski blushed and rubbed the back of his head, "Y-you're welcome."

"First, it was the snow-cone and then the rose and now this," said Amber, slowly rotating the DNA structure. "What else could a girl ask for?"

Kowalski chuckled, still blushing. He was glad to see Amber so happy. Also glad to see she wasn't the sick and violent beast he had met in his nightmare. But he could still picture the nightmare and Amber acting like a crazy and seductive creep. He could not take the nightmare no more. It was time he spilt the beans on Amber.

"A-Amber," he started. "I-I have a… a confession to make."

"A confession?" asked Amber, setting the DNA structure aside.

Kowalski nodded, "That nightmare I had all those nights ago… it… it wasn't about the dentist. It was about… you."

"About me?" Amber cocked an eyebrow.

"You… you were entirely different in this nightmare…"

"Different? H-how?"

Kowalski gulped, "In the nightmare, y-you decorated the base romantically with l-lit candles and rose petals all over the floor and there was dreamy music."

Amber's eyes were completely fixed on what Kowalski was telling her. She had decorated the base romantically? Lit candles? Rose petals all over the floor? Dream music? What?

"I-I did that?" she asked. "G-go on…"

"And… and then you started acting very… er… s-s-sedu-sedu-"

"Seductive?"

Kowalski nodded and then continued, "…and then you forced me onto a set of pillows and kissed my cheeks and stroked my chest and spanked my butt and smacked me and licked my flipper and you called me a baby and you told me to man up and then you almost passionately kissed me! It was just so horrible!"

And then, the nightmare-threatened but love-struck penguin broke down into tears. He heaved his flippers up to his eyes and sobbed loudly, letting out every tear his eyes had hidden from Amber. Amber frowned upon the sight. She had only seen Kowalski so upset since the night of his nightmare. However, she wasn't mad at him. She wasn't upset that he had such a horrifying nightmare. Instead, she wrapped her flippers around him, smiling.

"Kowalski, it's only fictional; it's not real," she said calmly, attempting to make him feel better.

Kowalski slowly stopped sobbing as Amber kept hugging him. She was right. It was only _fictional_, right? It wasn't _real_ at all. It was plain right fictional.

"Y-yes, it was only fictional," said Kowalski. "P-perhaps the creative part of my brain created that for me to see."

"I remember having a nightmare about you ripping mine and your heart out," said Amber. "But after waking up, I figured it was only fictional. I know you could never rip out someone's heart. And besides, you're not a baby. You're already manned up enough."

"R-really?" asked Kowalski.

Amber nodded and then continued, "And there's no way I could ever do that to you, Kowalski, because I… I…" and the words that had been held imprisoned in her mouth finally escaped, "I love you, Kowalski. I always have."

"Yes- wait; what?"

Did Amber just tell him the L word? Did she just tell him the most magical and most powerful word known to man? Did she just finally confess? Kowalski's heart began to flutter just from hearing that one word or those two sentences.

"Ahhh, I love the sound of the heart, Kowalski," said Amber with the side of her head pressed against Kowalski's chest to hear his heart booming loudly. "Especially when it belongs to someone who's near someone they're in love with like mine does."

"W-what?" Kowalski was still letting it sink in.

"Kowalski, what do I have to do to show you that I love you?"

And then, Amber grabbed hold of Kowalski's face, brought his face closer to hers, and then pressed her beak against his, kissing him! Kowalski's eyes widened and his heart sped up. It felt like a glass window had just been broken in his mind and was already falling apart. Finally, Kowalski understood the meaning of love. Every bit of information about love poured out of the glass shards that were left of the glass. And then, his eyes drooped and his flippers became weak. It then felt as if a thousand fireworks had set off in Kowalski's mind and then every love song his ear canals had come into contact with were playing inside his mind like a radio had just been turned on inside his mind.

Amber pulled away from Kowalski as her face reddened up. Her heart was pounding away and her body felt so jiggly.

_I… I just kissed Kowalski… I just had my first kiss with Kowalski!_ she exclaimed in her mind. However, Kowalski's face looked so… shocked? "Kowalski, are you okay?"

Kowalski's body was setting on passionate flames of fire and then his beak turned into a big, goofy smile. His heart was throbbing madly with love. And then suddenly, he threw his flippers around Amber and picked her up and began spinning around with her!

"I finally know what the meaning of love! I knew I couldn't be wrong about you! I knew I couldn't be afraid of you! I knew you could never be so sick! I knew you could love me! I knew I could be in with you since the nightmare! Oh, baby, I'm in love! I love you, Amber!"

He continued to spin around with Amber tight in his flippers. Amber's eyes widened. He loved her back! This was crazy! But it was so right! The two finally knew they were both in love with each other! This was so right!

"I _love_ you, Kowalski," she whispered to him.

After what seemed like hours, Kowalski finally stopped spinning around and then placed Amber back down onto the bench. The two fell back, feeling so dizzy. Wow. Just… wow! The two breathed in and out as their hearts continued to pound like a drummer was drumming madly on a pair of drums in their chest.

"I love you, Kowalski," said Amber.

"I love you, Amber," said Kowalski.

The two then turned their heads towards each other, staring into each others eyes. And then they brought their heads a little closer, closing their eyes and then their beaks met again, forming a more passionate kiss. They deepened the kiss and then wrapped their flippers around one another. They kissed and kissed under the night sky and it seemed as if the full moon had gotten even brighter, shining luminously over the two.

It was about time the two should head back to the zoo. The two waddled back to the zoo in the dark, wondering exactly how late it was. Strange how the lemurs were not late-night partying.

"Th-that was a great date, w-wasn't it?" began Amber.

"Y-yes, it was," replied Kowalski.

"W-would you care to do some experimenting in the lab?"

"Uh… okay. I'm not really tired anyway."

They had finally reached the penguin habitat. Amber not being able to hop over fences like the others, Kowalski smiled and picked her up, carrying her in his flippers and then hopping over the fence and then placing her down onto the platform. Kowalski slid the fish bowl aside, gesturing Amber down first like the gentleman he was.

The two hopped down into the dark and silent base with Kowalski moving the bowl back into place. They remained as quiet as they could but and tiptoed their way towards the lab. Kowalski silently pulled the door open and gestured Amber in first and then closed her door behind him. The room was awfully dark but then-

"Surprised to see you here so late."

And then a light switched on. It was none other than Skipper, sitting at Kowalski's work bench with a lamp sitting beside him, letting in just enough. He did not look happy. In fact, he looked entirely paranoid and mad.

_A/N: Cliffhanger! So how was that chapter? So, Amber finally confessed her love to Kowalski! And so did Kowalski! Oh, now they're in love! This chapter gave me some trouble so yeah. Anyways, until next time, please review!_


	15. Late Night Stories

_A/N: Next chapter up! Last time, Amber and Kowalski went out on their date and shared their first kiss with each other. And then I left a cliffhanger. So, what's gonna happen today? Find out! Enjoy!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

Chapter Fifteen: Late Night Stories

You could never come back from such a glorious date and expect someone to be sitting in your precious place, sitting at a desk suspiciously with a lamp shining brightly as if some kind of gang meeting was taking place. Skipper's expression remained unchanged, his eyes filled with paranoia as usual. Kowalski didn't know what to say. Amber looked away, attempting to not focus on Skipper.

Finally, Skipper cleared his throat, starting, "Can I ask why you two are here so late?"

The answer was obvious but it wasn't so easy to tell. Kowalski's mind was already set to task to think of what to tell his leader. He couldn't tell him that him and Amber went out on a date into the park or at least went out on a date. Amber knew she couldn't tell Skipper.

"Uh… er…" Kowalski started, unsure of what to say. "Well… we were…"

"You were well what?" Skipper's dark paranoid voice asked.

"We were…" Kowalski continued, still thinking up an excuse.

Skipper sighed, slamming his flippers against the desk, "Kowalski, you were supposed to be back here by nine. Guess what? You're back here at eleven."

"Eleven?" questioned Kowalski.

Amber gulped. Eleven o' clock at night? Did their date last that long? Was it all the kissing that they had "experimented" on that they had forgotten about time itself?

_Eleven?_ she thought. _Wow. It really is late._

"Besides, where were you two anyway?" Skipper asked deeply, glaring at the two, especially Amber. "You _didn't_ even tell me where you two were going. You two were so quick as if you two were in a rush. Not even Private or Rico knew where you two went off to."

"Uh, uh…" Kowalski began to rub the back of his head nervously, still lost with what to say.

""uh…?"" asked Skipper. ""Uh" isn't good enough, Kowalski."

"I… er… decided to… take Amber out for snow cones," Kowalski lied. Good one. That'll get Skipper to believe.

"Snow cones?" Skipper chuckled. He had never heard a more ridiculous and typical excuse from his right hand man. "That is the most pathetic excuse I have ever heard from you, soldier." He chuckled again. "Now tell me. Where were you two?"

Kowalski sighed, "All right. I guess I'll tell the truth."

_The truth? Oh, no,_ Amber thought. Kowalski couldn't tell the truth. He shouldn't tell the truth.

"Amber here wanted to know just how dangerous Central Park can be during the evening so I took her out into the park to show her the danger that lurks Central Park," Kowalski explained. "And then I took her out into the city to show her just how dangerous New York can be at night."

Was Kowalski standing up to Amber? Had Kowalski just come up with some crazy story to prevent Skipper from knowing they were actually out on a date? A smile crept upon Amber's face. She knew he was defending her. Her knight in shining armour was protecting her from the wrath Skipper would supposedly bring upon them.

"And you wouldn't want her leaving this zoo under any condition without anyone's permission, would you?" finished Kowalski.

The story sounded slightly legit, even from Kowalski. But could Skipper take it? Could Skipper take a story from his compadre? Kowalski of course was always honest with his leader, well, maybe apart from the one time where he could not invent but invented an invisibility ray anyway, causing chaos in the city. Skipper rubbed the bottom of his beak, thinking over what Kowalski had just told him.

"I guess you have a point there, soldier," said Skipper. "How come I never suggested that?"

Kowalski shrugged, "Well, Amber did want to see if the park was dangerous late at night."

Skipper nodded, "But I still don't understand _why_ you are back here so late."

Kowalski shifted his eyes towards Amber, the next piece of story already being written in his mind. _She ran off when I wasn't looking_… nope, scratch that. Well, maybe something that actually happened.

"Well, I decided to treat ourselves to snow cones. Amber here only had her first one today," Kowalski continued.

"Your first snow cone?" Skipper asked Amber, cocking an eyebrow. Amber nodded.

"And then to finish off, we spent the rest of the night watching the full moon," said Kowalski. "Amber here had always wanted to see a full moon up close. You don't mind that I did that, do you?"

Skipper rubbed the bottom of his beak again, thinking it over again.

"Well, you could have told me where you two were going," he said. "If she wanted to see how dangerous the park and city are, you could have let me know. I'd show her for sure."

"Uh, uh, it's all right, Skipper," Kowalski said, waving his flippers at his leader nervously.

Amber gazed again at Kowalski, his story sounding legit.

_You kind and caring person. You just told him a big fat lie and he's taking it,_ Amber thought. _No one has ever stood up for me like this._

"So, Amber," Skipper started, turning his body around a bit, looking at Amber from the corner of his eye. "Is this story true? Did you really want to see how dangerous Central Park is?"

Amber's story time had to come in now. Her mind began to write what to say. Of course she was from California and she knew barely anything about New York. It was a perfect story to tell Skipper.

"Yes, I did want to see if the park was dangerous," she started. "California was a bit dangerous and well, I wanted to compare the two places' danger. Kowalski agreed it was a good idea. Central Park didn't seem too dangerous compared to California but the city did seem a little dangerous."

The story sounded legit. It sounded almost real. No, it did sound real. Well, real enough for Skipper to believe. Going out into the park to see its very danger was definitely something Kowalski would show to a guest, or was it? But Skipper knew Kowalski could agree to do the right thing with their guest.

"Kowalski, I'm glad you agreed to take our guest out to see the dangers that may lurk about in our very park and out into the Big Apple," said Skipper, bringing on a small smile. "So, Amber, I believe you don't wanna leave this zoo now for any reason. Am I correct?"

Amber nodded, "Y-yes, sir."

Skipper turned back around fully, getting up from his seat.

"Alright, I'mma let you off easy, soldier," he said to Kowalski. "Same with you, Amber. But if you two want to go sight-seeing for anything dangerous, please let me know."

"Will do, sir," Kowalski saluted to his leader.

"S-sure, Skipper," said Amber. "A-and I'm sorry that I w-wanted to you know, see the park and all, I just-"

"No need for sappy apologies," Skipper said, giving her a light pat on the back. "But if you wanna see some real danger, just come see me. I'll be sure to show you." 

"Uh, r-right," said Amber.

"Now why don't you two hit the sack, huh? You'll need it, seeing how late you two are up."

The two penguins nodded. Kowalski opened the door, first letting Amber exit, being the man he was.

"Are you coming out, sir?" Kowalski asked.

"I'll just stay in here for a while," replied Skipper, sitting back down.

"All right, sir," and then Kowalski closed the door silently behind him.

_There's something different about those two_, Skipper thought. _First, Amber acts so shy around Kowalski, then Kowalski is suddenly afraid of her but now he doesn't seem to be. She better not have done anything wrong to him._

"K-Kowalski," Amber started.

"Y-yes, A-Amber," replied Kowalski.

"Uh… th-thank you for making that story up," said Amber chuckling.

"Uh… y-you're w-welcome," said Kowalski.

Amber smiled at him and then wrapped her flippers around him, hugging him. Kowalski blushed but he knew best to return the hug. He brought his flippers up and hugged her back. The two stepped back, still clinging to each other, not letting go. Suddenly, the lab door swished open. The two lovers pulled away, watching as Skipper stepped into the base.

"Shouldn't you two already be in bed?" he asked.

"Er… yes, sir, we were just about to do that," said Kowalski, almost nervously.

"Well, yes, I'm really tired," said Amber.

"Well, I'm off to bed so you two better hit the sack already."

And then, Skipper got into his bunk, ready to fall asleep. He had stayed up a long time, waiting for his right hand man and his guest to arrive back. How late was it? Eleven at night? 

"Well, er… I better get to bed. You too Amber," said Kowalski.

Amber nodded, "Yes, well, um… good night, my… my handsome man." And then she brought her beak close to his ear canal to whisper, "I love you."

And then she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before hopping into her bunk. Kowalski felt his cheek and grinned before also hopping into his bunk. He had had the greatest day in his life that he could never forget.

_I love you, too,_ he thought deeply in his mind.

Amber pulled out her trademark diary from behind her pillow, along with her trademark pencil. She opened the diary and began to write down every event that day;

_Dear Diary._ _I had the greatest day of my life! Kowalski and I went out into the park and we held flippers and got snow cones and met this really weird Squirrel named,_ "Um…? Ted?" Nope, erase that. _Fred. Yes, Fred. Then Kowalski found and gave me a beautiful red rose. And then we gazed at the full moon. Kowalski forgot about his telescope but all well, he could always pull the moon down for me with a rope. And then he gave me a DNA structure model and then he told me his nightmare he had all those nights ago? I seduced him? Creepy. All well, it's only made-up. I would never do that to him. And then I told him I love him and then I kissed him and then he told me he loves me!_ She nearly squealed inside her mind. _And then we kissed and kissed. It was so wonderful. He's such a great kisser. Oh, I love you, Kowalski._

And then she closed the diary, hugging it tightly against her throbbing chest. Indeed, Kowalski was the one man she loved. Nothing could change that. And now she knew Kowalski indeed loved her back. It was the most joyful feeling a girl could have about any guy. Kowalski was the greatest thing that had happen in Amber's life. She closed her eyes, already falling asleep, just thinking of Kowalski and what the two would possibly do in the future. Get married? Have kids? Oh, too far.

_Kowalski…_ she thought deep inside her slumber of joy.

_The most amazing dream Kowalski had ever experienced came before him. He could visualize a bright and warming sunset in the sky, setting over a deep blue ocean. A white beach stretched out, filled with tropical palm trees. Kowalski laid on the sand on the beach, staring into the beautiful and glamorous face of his true love, Amber, who was sitting on top of him, staring into his handsome face. Not sitting on him in the sick and seductive way as Kowalski imaged in his nightmare but in a way Amber was the gentle and kind girl he knew. But wasn't this all very familiar? Was Kowalski having the exact same dream as Amber, only slightly altered?_

"_I love you, Amber," said Kowalski dreamily._

"_I love you, too, Kowalski," Amber said back._

_The two stared into each others eyes, both thinking the exact same thoughts. Wasn't Kowalski just the most handsome and hottest man Amber had ever laid her hazel-brown eyes on? And wasn't Amber just the most loving and cutest girl Kowalski had ever laid his blue eyes on?_

"_Kowalski, you're the most handsome man I have ever met in my life," said Amber. "You've changed who I am. Before I was simply a lonely and depressed girl but then I met you and everything changed. You are my greatest friend and I will always love you."_

_A smile from ear-to-ear grew on Kowalski's face. Amber had told him half a speech. Not just a speech from her beak or mind but from her heart. If only his heart had the knowledge like hers did then he could also give her a loving speech, or at least a half-written speech._

"_I will always love you too, Amber," Kowalski said back to her._

_Amber smiled. And then she closed her eyes and pressed her beak against Kowalski's, giving him the most passionate and desirable kiss he had ever experienced in his life. His heart lit on fire, just racing away, his heartbeats becoming the only sound he could hear. Even the sound of the ocean could not defeat his heartbeats._

Kowalski puckered in his sleep, enjoying his fantastic fantasy, just by laying in his bunk. Amber was definitely the right girl for him.

_A/N: So that's it today! Sorry if this chapter kind of sucked. I sort of rushed through it a bit. I just wanted it up. And I'm sorry that this chapter was pretty short. I wasn't really aiming to make it long and I had barely any ideas and my co-writer wasn't around. I may edit the chapter in the future. I promise the next chapters will be a lot better! Until then, please review!_


	16. Diary Entries

_A/N: So sorry this wasn't up sooner or later! I've been pretty busy with school and other stuff. So, last time, Amber and Kowalski arrived back at the base pretty late at night and, well, pretty much lied to Skipper. And of course, Amber and Kowalski finally know their love for each other. So, what shall happen today? Enjoy!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID. **

Chapter Sixteen: Diary Entries

Kowalski wanted his dream to go on forever but he knew dreams could not last forever. His eyes eventually opened and everything was coming back into sight. He could see the ceiling of his bunk. He was back in the HQ, no longer on the silky and majestic beach where his fantasy had come before him.

_I've… I've never experienced such an unusual dream before,_ he thought. _Was that… was that for real? Is my mind that capable of producing such a memorial dream?_

Suddenly, more thoughts began to flow in. Every thought from yesterday's date marched into his mind and already, he was remembering everything from his date, from the snow-cones to the star gazing to the kiss. That sweet and passionate kiss he had experienced with Amber. That kiss was like no other he had most likely ever experienced in his life. It wasn't like kissing a circuit board. It wasn't like kissing a set of plans that could save civilisation. It was like kissing science in the form of a female penguin…. Amber.

He looked down into Amber's bunk to see her still asleep. Her purple diary was visible in her flippers. He had never seen her diary before. The diary must have been her form of a clipboard or a notepad. He cocked an eyebrow, wondering what could be filled inside of it. Secrets? Poems? Or simply diary entries? He felt a shot of curiosity. Wanting to have a quick nosy at the diary, he quietly climbed down the ladder and then reached his flipper out for the diary. He managed to just wiggle it out of Amber's flippers, making sure she wouldn't awake. He opened it up, only to find a series of scribbling. No wait; that was handwriting. However, he was not able to read. How was he supposed to read this? Oh, the good old speak and spell! He just managed to tip toe away from Amber's bunk when he heard something.

"Kowalski… Kowalski…"

He turned around to find Amber still asleep in her bunk, only now speaking unconsciously.

"Kowalski… I… I love you…" she mumbled.

Kowalski felt himself turn red. Even when she wasn't awake, she could still tell him that strong and enchanting sentence to him. Whether it was Kowalski in her dream or Kowalski in real life, she could still tell both.

"I… I love you too, Amber," he whispered before tip toeing to his lab and silently shutting the door, encaging himself inside his only privacy area.

He placed the diary down onto the table and pulled out his speak and spell from underneath, placing it also on the table. He opened the diary to the first page and typed in exactly every word and letter his eyes saw. And then, the speak and spell read it aloud.

"Dear Diary. I moved to Central Park Zoo today and met my new penguin neighbours. Skipper the leader seems paranoid about everything, Private seems like a nice guy, that Rico guy seems kind of gross but the tall one… the smart one… Kowalski… he's so smart and nice. His blue eyes are so attractive and his voice is so deep and hypnotic. If I didn't know any better, I think I'm in love with him." The device said in a digital voice.

Kowalski blushed. So, she did have a crush on him from the beginning.

_I guess that's what Private meant by love at first sight…_ Kowalski thought.

He flipped over the next page, examining the writing, still not sure of what it said. However, he typed in the correct words and letters and then, the speak and spell read it back to him.

"Dear Diary. Today, Marlene the otter took me out on a tour around the zoo. It was really cool meeting the other zoo inhabitants. I then finally communicated with Kowalski to learn we both have a lot in common. I had a daze about him too and fell right into his flippers. It was so embarrassing. Now I know it; I am definitely in love with him." The speak and spell read.

Kowalski blushed deeper. It was true. They had a lot in common. Everything from physics to chemistry to biology was what made Amber such a good friend to Kowalski.

_Yes, we do have a lot in common. She had many facts about the planets in the Solar System._ He thought in his mind. _Now if she knew how the sun works exactly._

Wanting to know more secret entries Amber had written into her book, Kowalski flipped over the next page and repeated the same process he had done with the previous entries and had the speak and spell read it all back to him.

"Dear Diary. Today, the penguins and I held a performance for the crowds. We were all doing adorable things and boy, Kowalski was shaking his hips very well. And then, he fell right on top of me! And then, I fell right into his flippers! It was just so embarrassing yet cute!" The device translated once again in its robotic voice.

Kowalski's red face only became even redder. He could remember falling on top of Amber but it wasn't as embarrassing as when Amber fell on top of him. However, he couldn't help but smile about it. He flipped the page over and copied every word and letter down from the entry onto the speak and spell and had it read back to him.

"Dear Diary. The penguins and I went out to Central Park for a picnic. It was glorious. The sun was out, the trees and grass were perfectly green and the air was great. It was so great to have a picnic with Kowalski. And then, I had a crazy fantasy about him and me kissing under a tree. It was maybe the greatest day in my life!" The speak and spell said.

Kowalski's face was on fire! Was it hot in there or what? Amber having a crazy fantasy about him and her kissing under a tree? He couldn't quite picture how it looked but it did indeed sound crazy.

_Amber does seem to have a very active imagination. Perhaps it could be due to her strong feelings about it._ He thought.

And then he entered the next entry into the speak and spell and listened to what it said.

"Dear diary. Kowalski asked me out on a date! I can't believe it! He actually asked me out! I'm so excited! I'll probably be able to hold flippers with him or kiss him. He said he would bring his telescope along and show me a close up of the full moon through that. Oh, Kowalski is the only man I'll ever love." The speak and spell told him.

More blood cells were becoming more and more active in Kowalski's face, making his blush brighter. He was prepared to hear the next entry. He flipped over the next page and typed in the next entry and his heart went away.

"Dear Diary. I had the greatest day of my life! Kowalski and I went out into the park and we held flippers and got snow cones and met this really weird Squirrel named Fred. Yes, Fred. Then Kowalski found and gave me a beautiful red rose. And then we gazed at the full moon. Kowalski forgot about his telescope but all well, he could always pull the moon down for me with a rope. And then he gave me a DNA structure model and then he told me his nightmare he had all those nights ago. I seduced him? Creepy. All well, it's only made-up. I would never do that to him. And then I told him I love him and then I kissed him and then he told me he loves me! And then we kissed and kissed. It was so wonderful. He's such a great kisser. Oh, I love you, Kowalski." However, this time, the voice sounded like Amber's voice. However, Amber was not in the lab. Did the speak and spell know what Amber sounded like? Or perhaps that was Kowalski's imagination?

Kowalski's face looked like a very, very bright tomato. Or maybe a very, very bright rose? His heart was fluttering away. His beak turned into a goofy smile as he replayed every entry the speak and spell read out in his mind like as if he had an audio recorder in his mind.

_Love… what a strong feeling,_ He thought.

He flipped the page over but found no writing. Maybe she hadn't written down any more entries. He closed the book and then headed for the exit and silently closed the lab door. The penguins were all still fast asleep. Kowalski tip toed over to Amber's bunk to return her diary. He carefully slipped it into her flippers, making sure she wouldn't awaken. Perfect, it was in her flippers perfectly. However, he could not let go of the book. It seemed to be glued. Not able to let go of her book, he took a moment to look at her face. There was something different about her face compared to every other face Kowalski had seen before. But what was it? Was it her violet eyelids or her bright orange beak that she had formed a kiss with? Kowalski didn't even realize he was leaning in, closer to her face. He didn't even feel his eyelids drop. He didn't even feel his beak puckering as he came closer and closer to Amber's face, ready to kiss her.

Amber's eyes slowly opened, her vision blurred. She blinked to find Kowalski's face in her face. Her eyes widened and her face immediately turned red.

"K-K-Kowalski?" she nearly screeched. "W-what are you doing?"

Kowalski's eyes opened to find his face so close to Amber's. He looked down and then back up at Amber's face and immediately pulled away, his face turning red.

"A-A-Amber, w-what a surprise to see you awake," he stuttered, feeling very embarrassed.

Amber sat up, her diary falling out of her flippers and landing on her lap.

"Well, uh… m-morning," she smiled.

"Er… m-morning to you, too," Kowalski greeted back, also smiling.

Amber rubbed the back of her head, unsure of what to say next, "S-so… h-how are you…?" 

"Er… n-never better," replied Kowalski. "…and you?"

"I-I'm good," answered Amber. "Uh… w-were you going to… k-kiss me?"

"Er… I… I don't suppose that was what I was intending to do," replied Kowalski.

Amber giggled. She knew Kowalski would have kissed her. She knew it would have been a great kiss… or at least a good kiss. She continued to giggle.

"Why are you giggling?" asked Kowalski, a hint of cheekiness in his tone.

"Oh, nothing," replied Amber.

"Come on, you're giggling about something," said Kowalski, his cheekiness showing more.

_Is… is Kowalski getting cheeky?_ Amber thought before continuing to giggle. "I-I was just giggling because… I think you're a really funny guy."

Kowalski blushed, "Y-you think I'm… funny?"

"Of course, you are, Kowalski," answered Amber. "Even yesterday, you were funny and charming." She sighed dreamily.

"So… well…" Kowalski began to scratch the back of his neck. "So… well… about last night… last night-"

"Last night was the greatest night of my life, Kowalski," said Amber. "Even if you may be an inexperienced dater, you still showed me a good time last night."

"You… you really think so?" asked Kowalski.

Amber nodded, "You're a really good friend, Kowalski."

Kowalski blushed deeper. He looked up to see the penguins were still slumbering. They hadn't even awoken to their early morning whispering. Perhaps they had earmuffs on? Perhaps it would be better to take this conversation outside in case the penguins did wake up.

"W-would you care to go for a morning walk through the zoo. We can discuss anything you would like to."

Amber nodded, "I'd love to, Kowalski." A nice morning walk with Kowalski was all she needed. She looked down to find her diary and immediately blushed and grabbed it, shoving it under her pillow.

"N-nothing you needed to see there!" she nearly yelled in embarrassment.

Kowalski nodded. However, he knew her secret entries about him. It was best not to let her know he knew.

"So, may I take your flipper?" he smiled, handing a flipper out. Amber smiled and hopped out of her bunk, taking Kowalski's offered flipper and they made their way out through the hatch.

_A/N: I'm gonna leave it there for now! Sorry it was pretty short but I just wanted to have a quick short chapter. So now Kowalski knows about Amber's diary and her diary entries. So, please stay tuned in for the next chapter!_


	17. The Morning Walk

_A/N: Sorry about the slow update again! I was busy with school and other stuff. So now I have the new chapter up! And I'm really happy with the reviews so far! Anyways, last time, Kowalski "read" Amber's journal entries and now they're going on a walk through the zoo. And look, this story has been around for a year now! Anyways, let's get a move on!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID. **

Chapter Seventeen: The Morning Walk

Amber and Kowalski strode through the zoo grounds in the early morning. The morning sun was still arising from its wondrous slumber to get to its job of lighting up the day. Barely any of the zoo animals were awake yet. Thank goodness the lemurs were not awake yet. Possibly, if they were awake, they would possibly be partying or at least doing something that would annoy the penguins to death. Amber struggled to begin a conversation. What could she talk about?

"Beautiful morning, huh?" began Amber.

"Indeed," replied Kowalski.

"W-well… uh… I guess the sun is finally awake," said Amber. "It must have had a really long day yesterday."

"Awake?" Kowalski asked in a confused tone.

"Y-yes, awake," replied Amber. "And it sure does look bright and happy today."

"Amber, that is impossible for the sun to be "awake"," Kowalski suddenly argued. "Sure the sun is a living organism but it is not capable of falling asleep or being happy. Surely, you would know that."

Amber felt offended. Again, Kowalski was taking something literal. It was just like last night with the full moon thing. How was Amber supposed to have a conversation with Kowalski if he takes everything literal?

"I-I'm sorry, Kowalski," she said.

"Pardon?" Kowalski was still confused.

"I-I thought you would understand I didn't mean it," explained Amber. "I-I know the sun is a living organism but is not capable of falling asleep or actually becoming happy. I-it's just a figure of speech, you know."

Kowalski's mind clicked, "Oh, oh, right, of course. I apologize, Amber."

"I-it's all right, Kowalski. I-I understand your scientific mind is probably not used to things that aren't true. I mean, um… you know… like last night how you believed no one could pull the moon out of the sky, I mean, space, I mean-"

She sounded like a complete dork until Kowalski reached out his flipper, covering Amber's mouth, performing the same trick Amber had performed on him.

"Amber, I understand perfectly well what you mean," he said to her calmly, now that he had understood her. He then slowly pulled his flipper away from Amber's beak, not rushing himself.

"Th-thank you for understanding me, Kowalski," said Amber.

"I guess I'm not so good with… er… what is the term for… er…"

"Metaphor?"

"Yes, metaphor. Thank you, Amber."

"You're welcome," replied Amber. "So, uh… w-want to continue our walk?"

"Of course," replied Kowalski.

They took each other's flippers and continued their walk. It was peaceful without the lemurs' music blasting off. Then the sound of bird chirping was heard. Amber looked up to see a mother bird high up in a nest in a tree, feeding its babies. Amber grinned brightly at the sight as the baby birds chirped away happily in their mother's presence.

"Oh, Kowalski, isn't that sweet?" said Amber, making Kowalski look up at the bird feeding its babies.

"Indeed, that is sweet," said Kowalski.

Just by looking at those baby birds, Amber was already imagining herself and Kowalski with an egg and then many penguin chicks. Amber grinned as her imagination was overflowing.

"I just know that if we had a child, we would be good parents," said Amber as her body unknowingly slid down the side of Kowalski's body.

"P-pardon?" asked Kowalski.

Amber shook her head, still smiling. "Well, want to continue our walk?" she asked.

Kowalski nodded. And then the two continued their walk. The walk was going perfectly. However, Amber did not want to stop having a conversation with Kowalski. But what else what there to talk about?

"Um… Kowalski." She started.

"Yes, Amber?" asked Kowalski.

Amber attempted to think of something to say. Well, she had not spoken of their date or feelings yet. Perhaps that could be their subject of the morning.

"Y-you know… um… w-when I first arrived at this zoo, I-I thought I would never make friends," she started. "But then when I saw you, th-there was something about you that told me that maybe I-I would make friends… a-and I did."

Kowalski could feel his blood vessels coming into place on his cheeks. He knew he was blushing. "Y-you did?"

Amber smiled, "Yes. I made… friends… with you."

Yep, those blood vessels were coming in, all right. Kowalski blushed deeply. He was glad he could make friends with a smart and talented female penguin who shared so many interests with him.

"W-well, I-I'm glad y-you were able to make a friend," Kowalski said, feeling a smile coming on.

"Y-you're probably my first real best friend, Kowalski," Amber grinned. "A-and I want to thank you for being such a great friend."

Kowalski blushed deeper as Amber wrapped her flippers around him, giving him a lovingly hug. Kowalski could feel his flippers wrapping around her without even thinking of moving his flippers. He enjoyed hugging her. He had never received many gracious hugs in his life but out of any he may have received, Amber's were possibly the most comfortable and heart warming. Kowalski really had found a friend, maybe his greatest friend, other than Skipper of course.

"And I want to thank you for coming into my life, Amber," Kowalski whispered. He actually said that?

"Hey, guys!"

Amber and Kowalski looked up to see Marlene on the wall surrounding her habitat. The second they realized Marlene was up there, already seeing the funny-looking look on her face, the two immediately split away, blushing deeply as though they had just emerged from a blazing sauna. Marlene hopped down to see the both of them.

"Oh, uh, hello, Marlene," said Amber, wondering if maybe Marlene had seen them hugging.

"Were you two hugging each other just now?" asked Marlene.

"Uh, hugging? W-why would we be doing such a thing?" Amber said goofily.

"Come on, I saw you guys huggin'," said Marlene, smirking.

Kowalski began to scratch the back of his head, lost in words. But of course Marlene had already spotted the two hugging.

"W-well, yes, we were, well… indeed hugging," said Kowalski.

Marlene clamped her paws to her mouth, trying to prevent herself from releasing the giggles she was hiding. She loved seeing the both of them together. They indeed did look cute together.

"H-how long were you up there for?" asked Amber embarrassingly.

"Just now," replied Marlene. "Well, I heard talking so then I looked over and saw you two. Sorry I ruined your hug there."

"It's fine, Marlene," said Amber before she began to blush as usual. "Well, we actually have something to tell you."

"Oh, and that is?" replied Marlene, crossing her arms and smirking at the two. She was predicting the very thing the two would tell her.

Amber smiled back and then looked at Kowalski, still with her smile. Kowalski blushed but then nodded.

"Kowalski and I are in love!" exclaimed Amber. "We love each other so much."

"That… that is amazing! So, you both now know that you're in love with each other?"

Amber nodded, "We went on a date last night. It was probably the best night of my life."

"Well, that sounds interesting," replied Marlene. "What did you two do?"

"Well, uh… we… well… went for a stroll through the park, had some snow cones, Kowalski picked out a rose for me and then we watched the full moon and then… um…" at this point, Amber's signature red face was reappearing.

"Did you two kiss?"

Yes, yes they did kiss. Amber wasn't afraid to tell her. She knew Marlene would not laugh. Marlene was of course her only friend in the zoo who was a girl. Marlene knew everything about what a girl would do on a date.

"Y-yes, we did kiss," said Amber. "And it was probably the greatest kiss I ever had. N-not to mention we kissed more than once."

"Really?"

Amber and Kowalski both nodded, not ashamed to admit they did in fact kiss more than once.

"It was such a great feeling," said Kowalski. "I've never experienced such a strong kiss before."

Amber giggled, her cheeks brightening up.

"So, I guess the date went alright then, huh?" asked Marlene.

"Yes, yes it did," said Amber.

"Not alright," said Kowalski. "It went splendid."

"Well, I'm happy for you two," said Marlene. "Now that you're together, you can probably have some children."

Amber and Kowalski's eyes widened and their faces went back to that look as though they had come out of a really hot sauna. And then Amber's thoughts of her and Kowalski together with children came back.

Marlene chuckled, "S-sorry. Just kidding. But still, you two would look adorable with children."

Amber and Kowalski chuckled along with her nervously.

Marlene grinned but then her grin changed to a usual look, "Wait; won't Skipper be his usual paranoid self with you two going out and all?"

"Well, if we keep it quiet and a secret, then Skipper has no idea what is going on between us," said Kowalski.

"But Skipper can't be paranoid forever," said Amber.

"Oh, he gets very paranoid," said Marlene.

"Yeah, I know," said Amber. "Sadly, I've had to put up with it ever since I came here."

"Well, I guess you're right," said Marlene. "Anyways, I think I'm gonna go get a little more sleep. See ya guys later."

She then hopped onto the fence surrounding her habitat and waved to the penguin pair. The two waved back.

"Well, want to also get back to the HQ?" asked Amber.

"Of course," replied Kowalski. "The others may already be up. Skipper wouldn't be happy if I was out early."

So then the two waddled back to the penguin habitat through the very early morning. Still, barely any other zoo animals were awake. The sun was still arising high in the sky. The two penguins had finally arrived back at the penguin habitat. Like what Kowalski did last night, he picked up Amber with his flippers and then hopped over the fence like the brave knight in shining armour he secretly was, or at least that is how Amber pictured him. Kowalski then placed Amber down and then pulled across the fish bowl.

"After you," Kowalski said to Amber, gesturing her way down.

Amber smiled and then began to climb down carefully and quietly. Kowalski followed after her and then pulled the fish bowl back into its position. Amber had nearly reached the bottom when _SLIP!_ Kowalski's foot accidentally slipped on the ladder, causing him to lose his grip on the ladder and then he was falling away, landing right on top of Amber with a _THUD! _The two groaned in pain and then realized how close their faces were. Kowalski's face tensed up but he was pretty used to his face turning red now. Suddenly, him being on top of Amber reminded him of that day when he fell on top of Amber. Both penguins' hearts raced but they were used to that feeling now.

"Whoa, what's with all the racket?" a particular voice suddenly said.

Both Amber's and Kowalski's faces turned towards the bunks to see Skipper awake, his eyes widened at the sight.

"What the- what are you two doing down there and-"

Private awoke to all the commotion. Already, he saw Kowalski right on top of Amber. He covered his eyes but also peeked at the same time at the two. Rico also awoke to see what was going on. The moment he saw Amber and Kowalski right there, he felt that queasy feeling in his gut. He immediately threw his flippers over his beak

Kowalski shot up, completely embarrassed at what had just happened. He had fallen on top of Amber. Now what was he supposed to say.

"I… er…" he struggled to say anything.

Skipper groaned, "Please do not tell me you sleep walk, Amber."

Amber cocked an eyebrow, "No, I do not sleepwalk."

"I just decided to take Amber on a stroll through the zoo. That's all, sir," said Kowalski, not afraid to tell the truth.

"A stroll?" Skipper asked, cocking an eyebrow as usual.

"It doesn't hurt to take someone on a stroll, Skipper," said Amber. "And I like morning strolls."

"Well, you could have told me, Kowalski," said Skipper.

"Yes, sir. I apologize, sir," said Kowalski.

"Wait, what kind of stroll?" questioned Skipper.

Amber moaned. She wanted to moan so loud, her moaning would hurt Skipper.

"Just a normal morning stroll, sir," said Kowalski. "Amber says she enjoys a morning stroll now and then so I decided to go with her to make sure she wouldn't get into any trouble."

Had Kowalski made this up again? Or at least the part about him going with her to make sure she would not indeed "get" into any "trouble".

"Sounds reasonable," said Skipper. "Now, then, might as well get up and at them. We have a pretty big day ahead of us."

_A/N: Well, that's it for today! Sorry if this chapter wasn't the best; I wasn't going really well with this chapter. And sorry if the ending isn't the best. The part where Amber is talking about children was longer but I decided not to put it in. Anyways, hopefully the next chapter will be a lot better! Until then, please read and review!_


	18. Penguin Can Can

_A/N: Sorry about the slow update again! Been on holiday, been drawing and other stuff. Anyways, here's the next chapter! So, last time, Amber and Kowalski went for a walk through the zoo, talking about their feelings and that. So, here I give you the next chapter. Do enjoy!_

**DISCLAIMER: PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR BELONGS TO TOM MCGRATH, ERIC DARNELL, DREAMWORKS ANIMATIONS AND NICKELODEON. AMBER BELONGS TO SLINKGIRL95 AND THE SUDOKU KID.**

Chapter Eighteen: Penguin Can-Can

The early morning passed by very quickly. Amber and Kowalski were not able to sleep for the rest of the morning. Everyone had already had their breakfast while Skipper had already had his regular cup of coffee and was wide awake and was prepared for the day.

"All right, we have a pretty big day ahead of us, team," he started. "First, we'll be performing for the humans and then I'd like to perform maintenance duty and then, if we have time, an afternoon session of training."

"I agree," said Private, looking about in concern. "This place sure hasn't been cleaned for quite a while."

Surely, there was plenty of dust all around, from the top of the TV to the walls; even Rico sneezed from the amount of dust about. Also, the smell of old fish bones lingered in the air. Not that it bothered the penguins too much but it would be nice to have a fresh new smell in the air. And the table had a few coffee rings left on it, obviously by Skipper's cups of coffee.

"Wow, you do have a pretty unclean place for a guest," said Amber. "I thought it was always nice to have a nice and tidy place for a guest."

"Ohhh," said Rico with his flipper up to his beak.

"Anything else you'd like to add to that?" asked Skipper. "Or would you like to be kicked out of here?"

"Ohhh," Rico said again with his flipper up to his beak.

"It is the truth," said Amber. "I mean, I don't mean to be mean but it's the truth."

"Ohhh," Rico repeated again.

"And could you please stop that?" Skipper told Rico before point to Amber. "And as for you, there is no need to give me that kind of tone," said Skipper."

"Please, no fighting," said Private.

"We're not fighting," replied Skipper. "Our guest just needs to learn to not speak to someone like me that way."

Amber sighed, "You're right. I'm sorry. And if it makes you feel any better, I can't stand having to clean. But I know everyone has to clean."

"Then I'm glad I don't have a neat freak in this habitat," said Skipper. "It wasn't so easy having Mason stay with us."

Yes. There was that time when they allowed Mason to stay over at their habitat as Mason was very mad with Phil who never cleaned after himself. Mason sure was a neat freak as he practically cleaned everything and made his own messes to clean up.

"Speaking of cleaning, I believe it was about time I gave my lab a clean," said Kowalski.

"Well then, you're best of cleaning your lab," said Skipper before getting up. "Well, anyways, let's get up there and give those humans some penguin adorableness before they all go to the lemurs."

At his command, the team, including Amber, got out of their seats and headed for the ladder. Before Kowalski could make his way up, he felt something pull him back. He wasn't the only penguin left to climb the ladder.

"So, how about a good luck kiss, Kowalski?" asked Amber without hesitation.

"A-a kiss?" replied Kowalski.

Amber nodded and pulled his head in a little closer to her face. Kowalski was already blushing as his face was close to Amber's. Amber closed her eyes and puckered. She pressed her beak against Kowalski's, forming a kiss. Not just a regular kiss but a kiss for good luck. Kowalski had almost forgotten the taste of her kiss. The feeling of having another beak pressed against his was the warmest feeling he had ever experienced with a girl. He let his eyes droop as he took in the taste of luck. Amber slowly pulled away, letting out a breath. She giggled to see that Kowalski was frozen in place, his eyes drooped and his beak puckered, unknown that Amber had let go.

"So, feeling confident now?" Amber whispered.

Kowalski opened his eyes slowly, his body flooded with luck and confidence from Amber's kiss. He nodded.

"What's holding you two up?" Skipper's voice called from above unknown to

"Don't worry, sir, we're coming right up," answered Kowalski.

* * *

Atop the platform, many people were gathering around the penguin habitat, prepared for one of their adorable performances. The penguins were thrilled to see how many people there were. Amber and Kowalski were rather nervous about the amount of people. Not only that but how they would be able to perform in front of each other. They still had to hide their love for each other away from Skipper. Also, what if one of them slipped and fell into the others' flippers? Or what if one fell on top of the other? Or what if they both accidentally kissed?

"Come on, penguin!" one person shouted.

"Over here, little penguin!" another person shouted.

Like always, Skipper would wait for the perfect moment or probably just enjoyed keeping the humans waiting.

"Sir, don't you think we might loose the crowds if we keep them waiting?" questioned Kowalski.

"Relax, Kowalski, just warming them up," answered Skipper and then turned to Amber, "Also, Amber, just try to keep up with us if you can."

Amber nodded. And then once the perfect moment came, Skipper gave out the command.

And off the penguins went. Private was blowing kisses to the crowds while Skipper and Rico wiggled their hips. Kowalski was feeling confident enough, thanks to the help of Amber. The two eventually moved forward to start performing. Crowds were already awing and screaming in joy. Amber looked back at Kowalski and pretended to slip, causing herself to fall into Kowalski's flippers. The crowds awed at the two penguins.

Afar from the penguin habitat, King Julien sat in his throne, watching the penguins performing. He sipped away at a smoothie that had been respectively made by Maurice who was waving air at the so-called king. King Julien could already see that Amber was in Kowalski's flippers. He felt somewhat sad as Amber had refused to be with him.

"How can a pretty penguin girl like her not be interested in me?" King Julien asked. "I'm handsome and I am a king and I do have my own kingdom. What could she not be seeing in me?"

"Perhaps it could be that she is obviously not a lemur," said Maurice. "Ever thought of that?"

"Maybe she likes one of the penguins!" squealed Mort.

King Julien sighed. From behind him, he pulled out a piece of paper. It was the exact same piece of paper with the sketch of himself that Amber did. He stared at it and gave out a deep sigh. But what was it that he liked about Amber? What it her hazel-brown eyes that he had never seen in anyone else before? Or was it that he could simply flirt with any girl?

"All right, men, and Amber," said Skipper. "Let's give this crowd a real good performance."

The others knew exactly what Skipper was thinking of. Oh, no, this was definitely not the tail wagging at the crowds. His eyes told another idea.

Suddenly, the penguins all formed into a line, facing the crowds, and then wrapped a flipper around each other. And then, they began to kick their feet up into the air while chanting the phrase, "Can you do the can-can, can do the can-can, can you do the can-can!"

The crowds awed at the sight, seeing little penguins performing the can-can. It was an excellent combination. Although the humans could not understand what the penguins were saying, it was still an adorable sight.

"Penguins doing the can-can, isn't that just cute?" someone said.

"All right, ready for the cha-cha?" said Skipper.

The penguins nodded. And then, still in the same line, they moved their flippers from around each other down to the others' waist with Skipper in the lead and Amber at the back, who had her flippers placed on Kowalski's waist. Oh, it felt so amazing, having her flippers on his waist.

And then, the penguins began moving along, still in their single line, now chanting, "Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha! Cha-cha-cha-cha-cha-cha!" While chanting, they also kicked their feet out at the last "cha".

The crowds cheered in glee at the sight of the penguins performing the cha-cha. And then, the penguins stopped to face the crowds who screamed in joy and began to toss fish at the penguins. They had earned their grand prize. The crowds began to disappear and the sound of cheering and yahooing left the area.

"Good work, men, and Amber" said Skipper. "I just know we're getting better and better at this."

_A/N: So that's it! Sorry it was pretty short. I was aiming for a nice short chapter. Also, sorry if it might be a little rushed. I just wanted it up sooner after two months or so. I was gonna have Amber and Kowalski kiss during the performance, I told my co-writer about it, but I couldn't think of a way to fit it in. But don't worry, the next chapter should at least be a bit longer, maybe two pages longer. Until then, please review!_


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